Mechanic Swap
by Sisterpups
Summary: What would happen if Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues swapped mechanics for 5 days? Would they be happier with the new mechanics or will they long to be with the ones that they always trusted with extreme gear? Will the good turn bad & bad turn good? :Completed!:
1. New Mechanics!

_**A/N: Once again, this is another story idea that popped into my mind when I was playing Sonic Riders! I thought it would be interesting to write so…here it is! Let's head into the story! Enjoy! I own nothing!**_

_It was a rainy Sunday. A very rainy Sunday. No, it was a stormy rainy Sunday! Sonic and his team, Knuckles and Tails, waited beneath a large tree for their 'friends' to show up. They were in a forest that was dense and muddy, and the rain didn't help._

_A flash of lightning and crack of thunder startled Tails._

"_Ugh! Sonic! Do we have to race now_? This weather is horrible!" the fox hollered under the roar of the wind.

"Jet said they would be here any minute now! I'll ask him if we can just schedule this race for tomorrow. I agree with you, Tails." Sonic replied back. They were waiting for the Babylon Rogues to show up, for a rematch after Jet lost to the last race they had. But, it seems they picked the wrong time to have this race.

The sound of many extreme gears were heard coming closer and closer.

It was Jet and his team.

"It's about time you showed up! We've been sitting here for at least 15 minutes!" Knuckles snapped harshly while wiping the water from his face.

"How was I supposed to know the weather was going to act up?" Jet barked back. He hopped off his gear and looked back Storm and Wave, his team.

"Jet, we should do this another time!" Wave said.

Jet stared at her. "Your sucking up to them? Come on! I've been _waiting _for this race all week!"

"B-but b-boss! Even if w-we do r-race, it'll be d-dangerous with this weather!" Storm supported Wave's statement of blowing off the race.

Jet let out a growl. "I'm the leader! I say we race!" he snarled. He turned back to Sonic. "Let's go. I don't like this weather any more than you do, but we've got to race today!"

Sonic sighed and turned to Knuckles and Tails. Tails just shrugged but Knuckles looked like he was going to explode. The blue hedgehog was proud of his friend for holding his temper.

The teams reached the starting point. They lined up.

"Since this weather is so bad, we'll make this only 2 laps." Wave said.

"Works for me." Sonic replied. "Come on! The sooner we start this, the sooner it will end!"

3...2...1...GO!

All six racers sped off in the rain down the forest's pathway with Sonic and Jet tied for 1st place. They were going slower than usual, but they went just fast enough for them to react to upcoming obstacles. Jet and Sonic were way ahead from everybody else, because they were well out of sight. But as they came into the heart of the forest, it grew even more difficult with more trees blocking the way.

Jet slapped a branch out of the way as it came flying to him. Sonic was well ahead of him. Maybe this was a bad idea…

Suddenly, he was slowing down even more. No matter how much he kicked to send himself forward, it wouldn't work. Soon he was going a lousy 80 MPH.

"What the-…?" Jet looked at the meter on his board that determined the air capacity. It was almost out of air. Suddenly, he just stopped. It reached it's limit and he was now stuck running.

Jet literally threw a temper tantrum like a 5 year old before taking off after Sonic.

When he reached the finish line, he realized he only had one more lap to catch up and make it as victorious. He ran as fast as his thin legs could take him and when he reached a hill, he thanked the gods. This will help bring air back to the board when he does at least one trick in the air. When he was in the air, he spun around as many times as he could and the air gauge went up again.

"Yes…keep going, keep going…" he repeated as he fell back down to the earth. There was a little air in his gear, but it was better than nothing.

It ran out again in less than a minute, which left Jet running again.

"GAH!" he cried out as he started running again. Suddenly, another board was heard from behind.

"Boss?" It was Storm. He slowed down to reach the hawk.

"You ok?" he asked. Jet just climbed onto the gear behind the albatross. "Go Storm! Go!"

"Uh, ok!" Storm was confused but he sped off with Jet holding onto him. When they reached the finish line, everyone was waiting impatiently.

"Finally make it, Legendary Wind Master?" Sonic smirked.

"Shut it, hedgehog! My gear kept running out of air. Thankfully, Storm gave me a lift." Jet sighed as he hopped off from behind Storm.

"Um…your welcome?" Storm called after him.

Jet ignored his right-hand man's comment, as he marched up to Wave. He bore holes through her with murderous glares.

"What?" She asked.

"I thought you tuned my gear last night!" Jet snapped.

"I did!" Wave retorted. "Why, what happen to it?"

"It kept running out of air, like, every 2 seconds! What's wrong with you?" Jet continued to yell and growl at his mechanic.

Wave narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "It wasn't my fault! I'll look at it when we get back to the-"

"No, no! Just stop! I'll just tune it myself!" Jet interrupted. Thunder rolled in the forest and it shook the ground. It silenced the six racers.

"How are you going to tune it yourself?" Sonic asked. "You know nothing about that kind of stuff!"

"Your right…" Jet sighed. His eyes trailed over to Tails.

"You! Fox-boy!" he pointed a finger at him. "I want you to fix it!"

"Huh? Me?" Tails was shocked. But no more shocked than Wave was."WHAT? Your choosing him over me? You really are crazy!"

The swallow pushed the hawk onto the ground…and into a muddy pit. Knuckles burst out laughing when Jet stood back up, dripping with mud.

Narrowing his eyes, Jet pushed his mechanic down as well, and into a muddy puddle. This continued and the rest of the mobians just watched it. Until Sonic grew bored.

"Knock it off!" he stood in the middle of the muddy birds. "Let's head over to the airship, shall we?"

Back at the air ship, everyone sat in Jet's office. Jet and Wave refused to talk to one another as they still had mud dripping from them.

"Ok…so I was thinking." Sonic stood in front of them all. They looked at him with attention.

"Jet's fed up with his mechanic. And my mechanic has had his fair share of screw ups too." the blue blur began. Tails eyed him.

"Sonic! You said I always do a good job!" the fox said with worry in his voice.

Sonic held his hand up to stop Tails. "…Which is why I think, we should swap mechanics for 5 days."

"What?" said the rest at once.

"Yeah!" Sonic smiled. "Wave could work with me and Knuckles and Tails could work with Jet and Storm."

Jet stood up. "You know what?" he began. "I think that's a great idea! Only one person can handle so much 'Wave'."

The swallow just glared.

"We shall swap!" The hawk continued. "And we shall race next weekend to see how it all turned out."

**A/N: And yes, this will have a friendship test between Jet and Wave. You always got to have those conflicts. Haha! Well, kind of a soon ending, but next chapter will be up sooooon! Thanks for reading! Please Review!**


	2. Hurt, But Proud!

**A/N: Been exactly a week since I've updated anything! Haha! Well, had more ideas pop in my mind for other stories but then I thought maybe I should just keep working on the ones that aren't finished. Anyway, here's chapter two! Enjoy! ****J**

Tails couldn't believe what came out of Sonic's mouth. He felt…unappreciated. How can Sonic say that about him when he always says he does his best with their gear? Did this mean Sonic lied to him the whole time?

The young fox didn't like this. Not one bit of it.

And now he was sent to work with a rival team? How can he put his best efforts for a team he doesn't feel right on? And from the look on Wave's muddy face, she did approve of this either. But then again, she also looked relieved that she would be out of sight from Jet. Actually, she looked like she was going to kill him any minute now. Tails wanted to protest about the deal.

But it's already been decided. This little mechanic swap started now.

Sonic offered a hand to Wave to help her up and she accepted it without a word. Knuckles joined them as they headed for the door. Sonic looked back at Tails, but all he got was a sad but deathly glare from the fox. The blue hedgehog hoped that this didn't affect their friendship. But from Tails' glare, his hopes came back and bit him in the butt.

Moments later, Sonic, Knuckles, and Wave left the room, and then left the Babylon Rogue's Airship completely.

Tails continued to stand there in Jet's office without any motion.

"Hey kid, you ok?" Storm asked.

Tails didn't pay any attention to the albatross.

"Kid!" Storm called again.

"My name's not Kid!" Tails snapped back with emotional force.

"O-Oh…s-sorry…" Storm held his hands up in front of him.

"…and no, I'm not ok!" Tails added as he looked the 19 year old in the eye. "My friend just lied and ditched me! Do I look ok?"

"Uh…um…"

"Thought so…" Tails planted himself in a seat next to Jet's desk. He buried his face in his hands and sighed heavily.

"W-Well, uh…Tails." Storm started softly. "It's only for 5 days. N-No need to be too upset about this…"

"I know." Tails replied blankly. "But it was his idea to do this in the first place. He must've just wanted to get rid of me for 5 days."

Jet wiped some mud away from his blue eyes. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Tails." he stated while doing so. "You're an excellent mechanic. Next weekend when we have that race, your going to prove it. I know our gear that you prep up for us will be legendary compared to…Wave's." Jet growled when he mentioned Wave's name.

Tails smiled. That was the best compliment that he had in quite a long time. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all…

**S**onic led the way back to his house with Wave and Knuckles at his heels. Wave still didn't speak one word. Sonic, being himself, didn't like awkward silences. So he decided to start a conversation.

"So…" he inhaled while thinking of what to say. "You hate Jet now, huh?"

"Always have…" she growled.

"Aw come on…if you hated him your entire life, you wouldn't be with him all the time."

"Well, he put the icing on the cake this time." Wave stated. "I'm done with him."

"Well, once things cool down a little, maybe you guys can sort things out." Knuckles suggested. The swallow stopped and eyed the echidna.

"_I'M_ not apologizing! He started it, and I ended it. And I declare that I don't want any part of him anymore! He can torture Storm now." Wave's voice broke.

The two heroes looked at her as they continued to walk. Soon, Sonic's house was in sight.

Sonic then saw how broken and upset Wave was.

"Your really hurt, aren't you?" he asked gently. Wave looked at him with watery blue eyes. It was clear she was close to crying.

"Yes…" she replied as she hung her head. "It seems that my work is…unappreciated."

"Well, your work with extreme gear is incredible, Wave. That's why your going to kick butt with our gear when it comes to the race next weekend." Sonic gave her a thumbs up.

She felt a gentle smile appear on her face. "Really?"

"Sure. Besides Tails, your one of the greatest mechanics I've ever seen." Knuckles added. Sonic then looked away in shame.

"I hope I didn't hurt Tails by saying what I said." he said sadly.

"Tails is a very forgiving guy. I'm sure you didn't hurt him too bad." Knuckles said.

"He gave me one of the nastiest looks I've ever seen from him." Sonic said.

"Like, how nasty?" Wave asked.

"Like a 'Grrr I'm going to kill you now' look."

"Yeah, he's mad." she chuckled nervously. Sonic looked at her.

"Oh well, we'll just see this weekend, won't we?"

**A/N: Very short chapter I know…but the next one will be longer and it will focus on the 1****st**** day of the swap! ****J**** I will be updating soon! Thanks for reading! Please review! **


	3. Tails' First Day

**A/N: Quick update! Yay! ****J**** Well, I hoping this chapter will bring out the humor in the story! After all, it is listed under humor. I have nothing else to say! So let's go! Here's chapter 3! Enjoy!**

Tails continued to smile, feeling warm inside that he received a wanted compliment. He looked up when he seen Jet stand up.

"Well, I'm going to get this mud rinsed off. Do whatever you all want, I shall be back!" he smiled playfully as he trailed out of the office.

Once the leader was well out of sight, Storm did a single joyful hop. "Yes!" he whispered to himself. "I get a free night!"

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Boss always keeps us on the go. Only once in a blue moon will he let us free for the night." Storm then smiled. "I think it's because of you!" The clumsy albatross ran up and lifted Tails into a big bear hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he said quickly.

"STORM!" Tails hissed. "I can't breathe! Calm yourself, Storm!" Immediately, Storm dropped the fox.

"O-Oh, sorry…" he apologized.

Tails brushed himself off. "It's ok. It's nice to see your happy. The only time I see you is when your threatening Knuckles." he replied.

"Ha! The red mutt always has it comin' to him." Storm said. Then there was a silence.

"…I guess I should show you your room then."

Storm led the young mechanic into the guest room. It was very roomy but plain. White walls, black carpet, checkered bed-spread and a single TV in the back. Like all the other rooms, incredibly large windows greeted the side of the wall, showing puffy orange and pink clouds, preparing for sunset.

"Is this ok, Tails?" Storm asked. The fox turned to him and smiled.

"Yes. This is fine. But too bad I wasn't able to get my stuff from my workshop." he said.

"Your probably going to use Wave's tools in her workshop." Storm stated. "and Wave is probably going to use your tools back at your place."

Tails nodded in response. "Fair enough…"

There was a long silence besides the rumble of the airship's engine. Tails really did start to appreciate the kindness from Storm and even Jet.

"_They're good guys…" _he thought. _"..for a couple rogues."_

"Well, uh, Tails. I'm going to head to bed. Um, if you get hungry or anything, the fridge is always stocked. Help yourself." Storm brought up as he backed away from the room's entrance.

"Alright. Thank you. Good night." Tails said and then the albatross was out of sight.

The young fox turned off the lights and laid down on the bed. He stared at the blank ceiling until his eye lids were forced to close.

The next morning, Tails was the first to wake up. And as for return to the thanks that he received the day before, he decided to make a big breakfast for the three of them. Bacon, eggs, toast…the list went on. Tails was quite a cook.

Storm was the first one to get up and smell the food.

"Wow, that smells good!" he exclaimed. "You cook this yourself, Tails?"

"Yep! Sure did!" the fox grinned. "It's the least I could do to return my thanks." He stepped aside as Storm piled his plate with food. He wanted to wait until Jet got his share until he ate, but a small bite couldn't hurt…

As the two sat and ate, Tails decided to ask about what his schedule was going to be.

"So, what am I to do?" he asked.

"Well, that's a question to ask Jet, but as far as I know, your just going to be creating new gear for us in competition, but I think there is also some traditional stuff to go through in order to be on our team." Storm explained as he took a bite of toast.

"Like?"

"Well…" Storm just stared. "…I can't remember. But I'm sure boss would know. After all, he is the leader."

As if on cue, Jet came stumbling tiredly in the room, still looking half asleep.

"I smell food." was his greeting. Chuckling, Tails said, "Help yourself. I made it all for the three of us."

Jet fixed a plate for himself and sat with the remaining team. The two looked at him in concern. It took the hawk the longest time to realize that they were staring at him. He slowly looked at them, eyeing them both.

"Um…hi?" he asked.

"You ok, boss?" Storm wondered. "You still look a bit tired."

Jet shrugged. "Up half the night with stupid nightmares." he replied. "Nothing important."

"About?"

"I said it wasn't important!" the 14 year old snapped harshly. That was…unexpected. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about them.

So Tails waited a couple seconds before asking about this 'tradition' Storm mentioned.

"Hey, Storm said something about me following your tradition. What do I have to do?" the mechanic asked.

Jet thought for a moment as he chewed a piece of bacon. "Well, you'll have to get these." He pointed to the flames on his wrists.

Tails swallowed. "You mean those are…tattoos?"

"Well duh! What did you think they were?" Storm chuckled. Tails laughed nervously, but it died away as worry filled his eyes. From what he heard, tattoos were incredibly painful…

Jet snickered. "What are you nervous about?"

"A-Aren't tattoos…p-painful?"

Jet sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh great, another Storm." He stretched a little before looking Tails in the eye.

"Look kid, it's not that bad. It will only sting for like, a second and then you can laugh about how ridiculous you are acting right now. Plus, yours will be removable and once you go back to Sonic, they'll come right off." he explained. "You think getting them now would hurt? Try getting them when your only a year old."

Storm butted in. "Yeah, that…kinda hurt." he admitted.

Jet tried to hold back a laugh. "I remember I accidentally kicked my father when the needle touched my skin."

Tails felt himself shudder at the thought of something sharp touch him.

"You weren't even born then, but I remember how I kept thinking that the needle would go right through my skin!" Storm replied.

Tails felt his breakfast come back up again.

Jet laughed out loud. "Ha! Remember..-""STOP IT!" the fox shrieked. "Your grossing me out!" The two rogues stared at him then simultaneously said "Sorry…"

The fox inhaled slowly. "…But if I must get them, I shall. But as long as you two don't sicken me with those…memories!"

"I'll get the tattoo kit!" Jet said as he anxiously jumped up from his seat and ran down the hall, totally forgetting that he was tired.

Once Jet came back with the tattoo kit, Tails' mind was changing quickly about the deal. Storm seen this and patted his friend on the back.

"No worries, Tails. Won't take but a minute." he assured with a wink. Tails smiled faintly.

Suddenly, Jet looked up. "Do you know how to do this?"

Storm just stared. "No…do you?"

Jet slowly shook his head. "Wave was the only one who knew." he explained.

Then he smiled evilly. "Well, looks like I'll be experimenting!"

Tails' eyes grew wide with horror. "If you don't know how to do this, then your not getting near me with that!" he spat.

"Oh, take a chill pill. It can't be that hard!" The hawk responded. He chose a darker yellow color compared to Tails' color, and he was set. The young fox attempted to jump up and run, but Storm grabbed him and held him down.

"Ready?"

"…NO!"

It took them three hours to do Tails' flames. Due to Jet's poor art skills, it took him forever to trace out the flame design. Tails didn't like the nonstop pinching and stinging sensation that lived on his wrists, but he held his tongue.

After it was done, he looked at his wrists, and he loved the design!

"So…how do you like them?" Jet asked.

"I love them!" Tails replied. "They bring out my eyes!" he said, mocking a girl's tone.

Storm snickered. "We told you! Not too bad now, is it?" Tails just rolled his eyes.

"Well, when your done admiring your own wrists, you can get to work on our extreme gear. Takes a while to build that stuff, you know." Jet added.

Tails nodded. "Yes, I know. Where is Wave's workshop?" he asked.

"Right down the hall, last door to the left." Jet replied with a growl lingering in his voice. Tails just backed away and headed down the hall and entered Wave's workshop.

It was bigger than most rooms on the airship. Probably a little bigger than Jet's office. It had a garage look to it; Concrete walls and floors, different forms of extreme gear hung on the wall, a work table in the center of the room and tons of shelves were stacked with tools.

"Ah…this is more like it." Tails inhaled and smiled to himself. He loved being around work and knowledge.

Immediately he went to work as millions of ideas for extreme gear flooded his mind.

The young mechanic worked for the rest of the afternoon but all he accomplished was the basic form of the gear and the blue prints for it.

Storm appeared at the door entrance.

"Hey, kid." he greeted, startling the fox a little from such a long and quiet afternoon.

"Oh, hey Storm." Tails greeted back. "Need something?"

"No, just wondering how our gear is coming along." the albatross said.

"Well, all I have is the basic shape and blueprints of it. But if all goes to plan, everything should be finished by Wednesday."

Storm nodded his head. "Cool. Cause today is Monday and uh, you know boss. He'll want to test it for a while before we actually race on Saturday."

"Yeah, I know." Tails replied. "I'll have it done." He stood up and stretched his stiff bones from sitting all day.

"I just want to attach something on the gear right quick. Is there a hot glue gun anywhere?" he asked.

"Yeah, Wave has one in her room. Should be on her desk where she says she keeps most of her things. Go ahead and check." Storm allowed the fox to enter their previous mechanic's room.

Tails was told directions to her room and he slowly made his appearance in her room.

It had purple walls with black carpet. There was a flame boarder going around the center of the walls. Wave's bed was a light purple and white and she had many pictures of her and her family along the wall. She had a wide-screen TV and a large stereo.

"Wow…nice room Wave…" Tails muttered under his breath. His eyes landed upon an X-Box 360 plugged into the TV.

"Wow…I see she is not a girly-girl…" he stifled a laugh. Then, on her desk, like Storm said, was a hot glue gun. He walked over and took it into his hands. But his eyes feasted upon something else…

There were small frames on her desk, tons of them. Tails couldn't help but look at them with curiosity. One was Jet, Storm and Wave when they became the present Babylon Rogues. Another was Jet and Wave when they first met; Wave looked about 8 years old and Jet looked as young as 4.

The next one was Jet and Wave riding their first extreme gear.

The NEXT one was, guess who? Jet and Wave smiling as if they were brother and sister.

Tails then realized: These two were really close ever since the first day they met. He could now imagine how much pain they were going through right now.

But Tails has seen too much. He had to get back to the workshop and finish up for the day before Jet accuses him for slacking.

**A/N: Long chapter! Haha! I'm enjoying writing this. I hope you all enjoyed reading it! ****J**** Next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for reading! Review pleaseeee!**


	4. Wave's First Day

**A/N: Here's chapter 4! Sorry for such a long update. It's been on my mind, but I just can't find time anymore. LOLZ. Well, here it is! Enjoy!**

Sonic, Knuckles and Wave walked inside the house. Wave then noticed that she was still covered in mud.

"I'm sorry if this gets on the carpet, Sonic." she apologized.

"No big deal. It's just mud." the blue hedgehog gave a thumbs up. "Anybody hungry? Just bought 40 boxes of chilidogs yesterday!"

Wave's eye grew wide with shock. "Sonic, is that all you eat?"

"Pretty much, yeah!" he replied back to her. "Want one?"

"Um…no thanks." Wave shook her head. "But I could use a shower."

"Upstairs, first door to the right." Sonic pointed out.

Wave smiled her thanks. "And…does anyone have a loose shirt and sweatpants or something I could borrow? Just until I get my clothing washed?" she added.

Sonic nodded. "Tails has a shirt in his closet and you can have my extra pair of sweatpants. I'll get them for you."

"Cool. I'll be back." With that word, Wave walked upstairs.

When she was out of sight, Knuckles shot Sonic a mean glare. At first, the blue blur didn't notice it as he walked in the kitchen to get a chilidog. But then he seen Knuckles following him everywhere, but the echidna didn't say anything; just glare.

"Um…why are you following me and looking at me like that?" Sonic finally asked.

"A rogue…is our mechanic." Knuckles sneered.

"So?""….So, I don't trust her! I don't trust any of them! And here she is in your house!"

Sonic shook his head. "Your just paranoid. Chill, will ya? Everything will go smoothly. And besides… " He took a bite of his chilidog. "…she can't stand her own team right now anyways."

Knuckles just shrugged and crossed his arms. "I wouldn't let my guard down, Sonic. A rogue is a rogue…."

There was silence as the echidna grabbed a chilidog and ate it slowly.

"By the way, you mind if I stay over here tonight? I don't feel like going all the way back to Angel Island." he asked.

"What about the Master Emerald?" Sonic reminded him.

"Ah, I got a buddy watchin' it. He likes the island."

"Oh ok then. Yeah, you can stay." Sonic started walking away to get Wave's spare clothing. "…on the couch." he finished his last statement.

"What?" Knuckles cried. "What's wrong with the guest room?"

"Wave's staying there, duh!"

"Why that-.."

Sonic couldn't hear the rest of what the hot-headed echidna was saying as he went upstairs.

When Wave came back down, she wore very loose clothing.

"Nice outfit…" Knuckles teased.

Wave had to giggle. "I know…stylish right?"

Knuckles just rolled his eyes. Sonic walked up to her. "Hey, uh…I bet your wondering where your room is." he said."Yeah…"

Sonic led the swallow down the hall to a guest bedroom. It was plain, but comfortable. White walls, tan carpet, wooden blinds on the window, and a large king-size bed.

"Wow…this looks nice." she smiled. "Thanks. It's yours for the week." Sonic replied.

The swallow turned around to face him. Both looked tired and exhausted.

"I guess I'll be going to bed now. Thanks for everything, Sonic." she stated gently.

"No problem. Just let me know if you need anything. I'll be right around the corner." the hedgehog smiled. "Good night…"

"Night…."

As the door closed, Wave stood in the room alone. She sighed as she sat on the bed, thinking about the day's events. The rainy race, the argument…

The argument.

She couldn't even think about what would happen after the week was over. Would Jet and Storm even want her back?

She turned the lamp off and closed her eyes. "I'll show them who the REAL boss is this weekend…" she mumbled before drifting to sleep.

The next morning, she found out that she slept in late. When she opened her blue eyes, it was already 10 o'clock. She didn't believe it. She was always the early bird. Cursing under her breath, she stood up quickly and made her way to the window to open the blinds.

It was another rainy day. Thunder rolled, lightning popped, and the rain pounded against the windows. Once she stretched a little, she walked out to the hallway to meet up with Sonic and Knuckles.

When she reached the living room, Sonic was watching TV with some popcorn and Knuckles still seemed to be asleep on the couch.

"Um, good morning?"

Sonic looked over. "Good morning, Wave!" he greeted back with a mouthful of popcorn.

"Your eating popcorn…in the morning?" the swallow asked.

"Well, sure! Any time is a good time for eating popcorn!" Sonic replied. Wave's attention then turned to Knuckles, who still snoozed on the couch. Light snores were still heard.

"He's still sleeping?"

"Yeah. He tends to sleep in on rainy days." Sonic explained. Wave nodded in understanding.

"So, do you have anything for me to do now?" she then asked. Sonic turned to her, setting down his popcorn.

"Knowing that you're an excellent mechanic, you can start on our gear anytime you want. But just be sure to be done with it by Thursday so we can test them. Saturday's the big race, you know." he explained.

"Ok, well I'll just start today that way I'm in no rush later in the week. After all, it looks like the rain isn't going to lighten up any time soon." Wave stated.

"Cool. All the supplies are in Tails' workshop in the basement. I'll pop in to check on things later." Sonic pointed to the stairs headed down.

Wave smiled as she headed for them.

'_Wow they're just a bunch of lazy bums…' _she thought. _'Just like Jet and Storm…'_

When she took the last step downstairs, she was amazed on how large the workshop was. Different tools hung on the brick walls. Different kinds of robots and machinery was piled up in the back corners in the room. Extreme gear hung from the roof and a large metal table was in the middle of the room, greeting her with scratches and rusty spots on it.

She was impressed with it all, though. Who knew that a 10 year old would have a workshop fit for a professional mechanic.

And so she went to work. She laid out and created blue prints that took almost 2 hours to do. But she also went ahead and created the basic shape of the gear, shaping metal and steel.

"It's shocking how Shorty has all the supplies I need to make legendary gear…" she mumbled to herself. Maybe she could take some of this stuff with her when she leaves?

Nah…

The kid's got to much to deal with right now to find out that his tools were stolen…She's not that mean.

It was already late afternoon when she decided to take a break. She snooped through Tails' mini refrigerator and made herself a late lunch and sipped soda along with it. She sat in a spinning chair next to the table and spun herself around, entertaining herself.

"What are you doing?"

Wave jumped up in surprise; the voice broke a extremely long silence from being alone all day. She looked over at the end of the stairs to see Knuckles leaning against the wall.

"Me? I'm not doing anything. Just sitting here and eating lunch." Wave replied coolly.

"Looks to me your were just kidding around." the echidna said bluntly.

"I'm just spinning around in a chair. How's that kidding around?"

Knuckles just shrugged. "I don't know. I never knew someone who spins in a chair to entertain themselves."

"I'm just taking a break. I've been working all day." Wave added.

"Oh really?" Knuckles asked, raising his eye brow. "What have you done so far with our extreme gear?"

"Come over here and find out."

Knuckles slowly walked over and took a glimpse of what work was progressed on the gear. All that he seen was a piece of scratch of an extreme gear.

"You've worked all day on…this?" Knuckles asked with disgust.

"Mostly just on the blue prints for the gear." Wave retorted. "I just started to put the gear together. Takes time to do this stuff, Knuckles."

"What ever…" Knuckles started for the stairs again. "Sonic wanted me to come down here and tell you that your welcome to join us upstairs for dinner in a few."

"Chilidogs?"

"Yep."

"Should have guessed…" Wave muttered. "Tell him I'll be up there in a few."

"Alright…" With that word, the echidna walked back upstairs while giving Wave a final look.

Wave sighed as she put everything up for the day. When she walked to the kitchen, Sonic and Knuckles were already at the table eating.

"I had lunch, well I guess it's dinner now, just a few minutes ago. But I wouldn't mind having 1 chilidog." the mechanic chuckled as she took one from the plate.

Wave looked over to Sonic and the hedgehog was extremely quiet. He also looked kind of upset.

"Are you ok Sonic?" she asked with curiosity lingering in her voice.

Sonic glanced at her. "Sure. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"…I kind of miss Tails." he said.

"But Sonic, it's only been the first day." Knuckles added.

"I know but…I can't help but think that he's really mad at me for saying what I did back on the airship."

"Don't worry Sonic. He's not like that." Knuckles said.

"I know he's not. We've known each other too long for him to be too mad at me." Sonic gave a slight chuckle. "…way too long…"

**A/N: Sort of a sudden end but I want to save everything else for later. Not really much to say but that the next chapter will be up soon! Thanks for reading! Review please!**


	5. Tails is a Rogue!

**A/N: Now presenting, Chapter 5 of this story! Enjoy! **

Tails started to finish up for the evening by putting away all the tools and putting up the wooden shape of the new extreme gear on some empty shelves. The fox's ears perked up when he heard a clock strike 9 o'clock.

"Guess I should head to bed…" he muttered tiredly. "I'm beat…"

As he started to walk out of the room, he noticed that almost all the lights in the airship was off, and the ones that were still on beamed a low light. He also noticed that the airship's engine wasn't running, so it must've landed somewhere.

"Maybe they've already went to bed?" Tails guessed. Then suddenly, he felt something bump into him, sending him to the ground with a thud.

"O-Oh, sorry Tails…" It was Storm, of course. He held out a helping hand to the young fox, who happily took it.

"It's ok, Storm. I was just heading to-"

"To bed?" came Jet's voice, coming from behind Storm. "No your not! Your coming with us."

"Huh? To where?" Tails found himself asking.

Jet held his extreme gear under his arm as he went towards the door that lead outside. "We're going out to grab a few gems, diamonds, or whatever we can get our hands on." the hawk replied.

Tails stared at him. "You mean…stealing?"

"Yes Tails…stealing." Jet replied slowly.

Tails started to feel uncomfortable about this. He never stole anything in his life! This would mean that the cops would be on the hunt for him now, and he would be traitor to Sonic and Knuckles.

He stayed silent as they hopped onto their extreme gear and flew to the city. The mechanic then tried to think of ways to change Jet's mind about doing this while he was on the team.

"Um, Jet?" he asked.

"Hmm?" The hawk looked over carelessly.

"Did you ever think that well…I'm not a rogue?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't feel right doing this. I'm always doing the right thing with Sonic and Knuckles. I've never stolen anything before." Tails explained.

Jet didn't say anything, just stared.

"That's right, Boss. Tails is _with_ the law. If he does come with us, he'll be on the cops' list as well. He's only going to be with us temporary." Storm brought up.

"Who says it's going to be temporary?" Jet snapped. "If the kid does a great job with our gear and gets us to win the race Saturday, then I'm going to keep him!"

Tails swallowed hard. He never dreamed of being on this group of thieves.

"But Boss…" Storm said, eying his leader seriously. "What about Wave?"

Tails thought he saw a sign of both anger and sadness in the hawk's expression.

"I don't want to hear that name ever again!" he cried. "She's not coming back unless she speaks up and apologizes!"

Storm didn't reply. So there was an awkward silence.

Until Jet sighed and relaxed a little. But his tone was still strict.

"But about Tails, he's still coming with us. If he's going to be on my team, then he's going to learn the ways of a rogue whether he likes it or not.""Jet, you could get me in some major trouble!" Tails snapped, narrowing his eyes. Now he was starting to get angry.

"Chill, kid! As long as you stick with us, nothing bad will happen!" the hawk said.

Tails couldn't speak. But he just hoped that Jet was right…

Once they reached the city, they hid behind an abandoned building near a street and hopped off their gears to look around.

"So, where to first, Boss?" Storm asked, excitedly.

"Hmm…I got it! Is the museum anywhere near?" Jet asked.

"Yes, sir!"

"Closed at this hour?"

"Yep!"

"Awesome! Because I just heard that they brought in some new artifacts that are like, a gazillion years old!"

"So?"

"So… they're probably worth some bucks!" Jet smiled. "That's where we come in. Come on, let's go!"

But before the hawk could take off, Tails grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "Hold on!" he growled. Jet, surprised from Tails' reaction, slapped the fox's hand to get him to let go. "What do you want?" he yelled.

"I don't want to do this!" Tails stated, crossing his arms.

"Tails, it's not a big deal! Your _making_ this a big deal!" Storm said.

"I don't care. I'm not doing this!" Tails closed his eyes and shook his head.

Jet was starting to get pretty annoyed at this. He started grinding his teeth while thinking of a way to get the fox to come with them.

"Tails, please…I'm not going to say this again." he said.

The fox just stared.

"Please, Tails…?" Now he was begging the mechanic to come.

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"I'll pay you!" The hawk ran out of options.

"Why do you want me to come so much?" Tails asked, confused and annoyed at the same time.

"Because…." Jet smiled as he turned around to grab his gear that leaned against the wall. "The more hands we got, the more artifacts we get to steal from the museum." He then started walking down an empty road.

Tails sighed. Now he didn't know what to do. Then Storm faced the youngster.

"Listen. I promise you, we won't let you get caught."

"How can you be so sure?"

Storm sighed. "Forget it…" Instantly defeated, he followed his boss. Tails stood there alone. He didn't like disappointing people. It's just he didn't feel right stealing! He wouldn't be 'Tails' if he started stealing.

"Wait! I have an idea!" came Jet's voice as he ran up to the fox.

"What would that idea be?" Tails asked.

"You said you didn't want to do this because your afraid someone will recognize you, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Follow me!"

_***Many moments later***_

"Jet, this is ridiculous!" the fox moaned as he stood over a large pile of mud.

"Come on! If you cover yourself with mud, no one will know it's you!" the hawk explained. He looked around. "Am I right?"

Storm shook his head. "Boss…it's ridiculous." he agreed with Tails.

"Just…hurry up and cover yourself with the mud." Jet turned his attention to the fox.

"But wouldn't it be better if-" Tails started to protest.

"ROLL IN THE MUD!" Jet demanded.

Almost instantly, Tails belly-flopped into the mud pile and rolled around in it, muttering his disapproval as he did so. The other two just stared at the muddy fox, neither of them saying a word.

Tails finally stood up and sighed. Mud dripped off of him like water. But no sign of his original color was shown.

"See? Now was that so hard?" Jet asked.

Tails growled. "Happy?"

"Yes, yes I am." Jet chuckled before leaving. "You do look ridiculous…"

Tails heard that. "Thanks to you!"

"Your quite welcome! Now let's get to the museum already! We've wasted an hour already!"

As they walked down the lonely street, Tails started to feel the mud dry to his fur. _'Man, first these guys give me tattoos and now they made me roll in mud?' _he thought. _'I don't blame Wave for wanting to leave!'_

"Ok, here's the plan." Jet whispered as they stopped in front of the museum. "Storm, you create a distraction and lose the guards so Tails and I can get inside and get those artifacts."

"You got it, Boss!" the albatross saluted.

"Good, now get to it!" Jet ordered. "Tails, follow me."

As the two hid beside the stairs that led inside the museum, Storm just stood there.

"What are you waiting for?" Jet whispered angrily. "Get the guards to come out here!"

"I don't know what to do, Boss." Storm admitted.

"Ugh…" Jet sighed and rolled his eyes as he started looking around for something to help Storm's distraction. Then his eyes landed on a trashcan. He rushed over to grab the top of the trashcan, and a thick stick that was next to it. He tossed both to the brawn.

"Here, hit this with the stick. It'll be loud enough to bring the guards out here." Jet instructed.

"Ok!"

When Jet was back with Tails by the stairs, Storm started pounding the metal with the stick. But no guards came.

"What now, Boss? They're not coming!"

"Well, yell or something!" Jet replied back.

So now, Storm was hitting the metal with the stick, and yelling. And because Storm's yelling sounded more like yodeling, Tails and Jet couldn't help but laugh. But it was loud enough to bring two scrawny guards outside.

"Hey keep it down out there!" One yelled.

"Nope!" Storm said.

"Excuse me?"

"Catch me if ya can!" Storm then started yelling and hitting the metal again as he ran around. This got the guards to run after him. Thankfully, Storm led them far away from the entrance.

"Ok, let's go!" Jet grabbed Tails' wrist and led him inside the museum.

"Now where could those artifacts be?" Jet wondered.

"Right there." Tails replied. He pointed over to a mountain of boxes near the front desk, all of them saying "Transported Artifacts".

"Oh…"Jet felt himself burn up with embarrassment. "I knew that."

Both went to work on grabbing as many boxes as they could, and throwing them outside to grab later. That was until…

"HEY! Put your hands where I can see them!" demanded a guard that came in from another part of the museum.

"Yes sir!" Tails immediately surrendered. Jet slapped him across the face. "Quit acting like an idiot and let's get out of here!"

Tails swallowed nervously as he followed the Babylon Rogue back to the front door, carrying tons of heavy boxes.

Then suddenly, the two guards that Storm distracted came through the front door before Jet and Tails could escape.

"Oh no…" Tails whimpered. "Jet, this isn't good."

Jet snorted. "Come on…it's not that bad." he whispered.

Just as both secretly feared, all three guards pulled out their guns.

"Ok…now's it's bad." Jet changed his mind. "Where's Storm?"

As if on cue, Storm knocked out the two guards that stood in the doorway. He was then being chased by the remaining guard. But Jet dropped the boxes and attacked the guard with his fans. When that guard was finally taken down, Jet caught up to Storm and Tails.

"Let's get out of here! These guys won't stay like this for long." the hawk said as they all went outside and grabbed the boxes that were outside. As they ran back to get their gear, they stopped dead in their tracks.

ANOTHER guard was there…and he had their extreme gear.

"Freeze! Drop the boxes and no one gets hurt!" he threatened as he pointed his gun at the three of them. Tails dropped the 4 boxes he had, and it sounded like what ever was in those boxes had shattered from the force.

"Tails!" Jet snapped.

"I'm sorry!"

"DROP THE BOXES!" The guard instructed once again. And once again, the three guards that they defeated, showed up, making the three thieves surrounded with no other choice. The two avians then followed Tails, and dropped the boxes and held up their hands in defeat.

But when Tails looked at the hawk, he seen that he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

As the guard began handcuffing the three, Storm began sobbing.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" he lied, trying to sound convincing.

"You have the right to remain silent, son." the guard replied.

"What makes you the top dog all of a sudden?" Jet mouthed.

"I'm a guard, son. It's my job to protect the museum. And you TOO have the right to remain silent…"

"No I don't…" Jet smiled evilly.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, pal. But I'm not goin' to prison tonight!" Jet inhaled sharply before roundhouse kicking the guard in the side, hard enough to send him to the ground but not hard enough to actually hurt him. This gave all three of them time to hop on their gear and just zoom away from there.

Thankfully, the handcuffs weren't on completely so they just fell right off and plummeted to the ground.

When they reached the airship, they were exhausted but relieved.

"How can you guys steal on your own? That was pathetic!" Tails shouted.

"Well, that was just unorganized." Jet replied back, planting himself on a couch and turning on the TV.

"We were almost arrested!" Tails shouted again.

"I know that and will you stop yelling?" Jet yelled even louder. That got the fox to keep his rude thoughts to himself.

"But boss, where did you learn to kickbox?" Storm smiled.

"Kickbox?"

"Yeah, that little roundhouse kick you did! That was pretty good!" Storm complimented.

"Oh that…" Jet smiled to himself. "I don't know the first thing on kickboxing. But…" He suddenly stopped.

"But what?"

"Wave taught me how to roundhouse kick…" Jet didn't look up.

There was an unwanted silence.

"But hey! Her little lesson saved our lives!" Storm brought up.

Jet just shrugged. "Yeah…I guess."

Tails looked at the TV and saw a news report.

"Hey look it's us!" he pointed out.

"An attempted robbery was just made here at the City Museum." the reporter announced. "A green hawk, a grey albatross and it seems.. a muddy fox, tried to steal the newly brought artifacts. Thankfully, the guards were able to take them down long enough to save the artifacts…but not long enough to put them behind bars."

Then it showed the three on security cameras trying to take the boxes. But then it showed Storm running around, hitting a trash can lid with a stick, and yodeling.

Storm chuckled. "Hehehe…I'm on TV."

"Whatever…I'm going to bed." Jet mumbled as he started walking to his room.

Tails then decided to wash the mud off and hit the hay too.

But then he realized; Sonic always listens to the most important news reports. The one of the robbery included him.

Even if Sonic didn't recognize the 'muddy fox', he would soon realize it was the three of them after recognizing Jet and Storm.

He began to worry.

But then he didn't care.

"Hmph! He doesn't care about me anymore!" he said to himself.

Then he smiled.

"In fact, maybe I'll consider staying…"

**A/N: What has Tails got himself into? 0.o Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up soon! Review please!**


	6. Wave is a Hero!

Wave just stared at Sonic, feeling sorry for him. She knew that he and Tails were really close, and that it must've bothered him that he thinks his best friend was extremely mad at him.

"Don't feel bad Sonic," Wave spoke up. "I'm kind of in the same situation as you."

The blue hero looked up at her slowly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not the only one who feels rejected at the moment," she chuckled sadly. "After all, I just got kicked out of my own team."

Sonic didn't say anything. He just remained silent.

"Although, I did get to speak with Tails before I left with you guys," Wave added.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Not to make matters worse for you Sonic, but he said he doesn't want to come back." Wave explained.

Sonic sighed. "This is bad…"

Knuckles slammed his fists on the table. "Okay, let's stop talking about this! Everything will be different by the time this weekend comes, so quit beating yourselves up over it!" he snapped.

Suddenly, Sonic's cell phone went off. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hi Mr. Sonic!" said a tiny voice. It was obvious that it was Cream.

"Hey, what's up Cream?" Sonic sounded a bit more cheerful now.

"Well, Amy and I was wondering if you could come over for a second. It's sort of important." the young rabbit said.

Sonic agreed to go over and he hung up. "We need to go over Cream's house. And she told me to bring you guys too." the hedgehog sounded a bit concerned.

The blue blur knocked on Cream's door. The rabbit greeted them with a warm smile.

"Hi Mr. Sonic, Mr. Knuckles, and…Miss Wave?" She was shocked to see Wave with her friends.

"Hey, kid…" was all Wave said. Cream looked at Sonic. He guessed that she wanted a full explanation on why Wave was with them.

"So um…what's so important?" Knuckles wondered.

"Follow me, and quickly!" Cream led the three in the house. Inside, Amy was sitting on the couch with Cream's pet chao Cheese and Cream's mother, Vanilla.

"Mr. Sonic, the island where Cheese was from is under attack! The chaos living on that island are going to be kidnapped and the island will be destroyed by a bunch of thieves! I'm afraid of what might happen to them if those thieves get their hands on those poor creatures!" Cream explained with horror in her eyes.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese added with fright before bursting into tears, followed by Cream.

Amy stood up and walked over to Sonic. "C'mon Sonic, you have to save the chaos. Would a kiss make up your mind?" she asked, puckering her lips and winking.

"Eww…no!" Sonic flinched in disgust. Knuckles and Wave chuckled at this.

"Anyway…," Sonic stated. "Of course we'll help them. That's what I'm here for. And I got Knuckles and Wave for backup if I need help."

"Oh yeah, why is Wave with you guys?" Amy wondered out loud, rudeness lingering in her voice.

"You see, we're having this contest going on. Tails is the Babylon Rogue's mechanic while Wave is ours, for a week." Knuckles mentioned.

"Oh…," Amy glared at Wave. "…How wonderful…"

"Well, let's go save the chaos!" Sonic concluded the awkward moment between Amy and Wave by sending him and his team out the door.

The island wasn't far; just a little off the shore.

"Well…there it is." Knuckles pointed the obvious out.

"How are we going to get over there?" Sonic gulped, apparently afraid.

"We can 'borrow' a boat near the dock." Wave suggested, putting quotes around the word 'borrow'.

"No, we're not 'stealing' a boat," Knuckles snapped. "And while your with us, your not stealing anything!"

Wave just gave him a death glare before looking back out to the island.

"W-Well…we could ask that man over there if we can use his boat for a minute." Sonic pointed to a man who apparently was working on his boat.

"Can't hurt…" Wave shrugged as the three walked over.

Sonic stood behind the man. "Excuse me, sir." he called.

"Huh? What? Who said that?" the man quickly turned around and frantically looked for the person who called him.

"Down here!" Sonic waved his hand.

The man suddenly gasped. "Oh my gosh! A talking cat!"

"No sir, I'm a hedgehog," Sonic corrected.

"Well, that's even stranger!" the man whispered. "Are you real?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" asked Sonic.

"Are you in the Navy?"

"No! Just…can we-"

"Where's my orange juice?" the man cried.

Sonic was silent.

"What kind of vacation is this? All I want is my orange juice and instead I get a talking rat nagging me…" The man went on and on, complaining.

Knuckles leaned in near Sonic. "He called you a rat…" he repeated with confusion.

Wave stepped in on the argument. "Wait…I thought he was cat?" she laughed quietly as she picked on Sonic. Sonic shot her a glare.

"Well, now he's a ferret!" The man declared. "Now where is my orange juice?"

"Let's just go…" Sonic turned around and started walking away.

But Knuckles wasn't about to give up.

"Hey, can we borrow your boat?" he asked straight-forward.

"Sure, sunny!" The man smiled and tossed him the keys.

Sonic looked at Knuckles dumbfounded with his jaw hanging low. Knuckles and Wave walked onto the boat. "Comin' or what?"

On the island, there were no signs of chaos anywhere. The island was as silent as dead.

"So…where do we look first?" Wave asked.

"I'll check the north and east part of the island. Knuckles can get south and you can tackle the west." Sonic instructed. "Use these to contact each other if one of us find the chaos." The hedgehog then handed out walkie-talkies. "Let's go!"

Wave felt uncomfortable on such an unfamiliar island. She stepped over vines and tree roots, watching her step for any poisonous animals. The swallow then found herself on top of a wide cliff.

And hanging in a tree, was a net full of chaos pleading for help. She immediately turned her walkie-talkie on.

"Sonic! Knuckles! I found them. Report to the west, pronto!" she ordered.

She looked around for any thieves before running up to the tree and untying the net's rope.

"Don't worry, little creatures!" she smiled. "I'll have you out in no-" she was cut off when someone grabbed her and slammed her up against the tree.

"What do you think you're doing, missy?" sneered a deep voice. The thief was dressed in all black with a ski mask on, hiding his identity.

But when Wave closed her eyes and waited for the worst to happen, Knuckles came out yelling and punched the thief away from Wave.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Sonic?" Wave replied.

"On his way. I'll fight; you free the chaos!" Knuckles instructed.

"Got it!"

Wave went straight to work on untying the thick rope as Knuckles brought on a fight between the three thieves. It wasn't long until Sonic showed up and helped Knuckles with the fight.

"STOP!" bellowed another voice.

Everyone froze and the large net of chaos were taken and hung over the edge of the cliff.

"One more move, and the chaos get it!" a tall, slim figured dragged the chaos over the edge and threatened the heroes to drop them down to the sharp rocks below.

"You wouldn't do that…" Sonic shook his head, trying to regain his breathing.

"Try me…" the figure went ahead and released the rope in his hands.

"NO!" Wave cried. She lunged forward and dived down with the chaos over the cliff.

"Wave!" Sonic and Knuckles cried simultaneously. The three thieves escaped away as Sonic looked over the edge.

"I see her!" he called to Knuckles. The echidna looked down too.

Sure enough, Wave was hanging by a limb holding the net of chaos. She saved them!

"Hey, how's it hangin'?" she asked with sarcasm.

"Hang on, we'll throw down a rope and pull you in." Knuckles called down as Sonic reached for a random rope and flung it down to the swallow.

Together the two pulled the rogue and the chaos in.

"Thanks guys…" she smiled. "That was close."

"You saved the chaos, Wave!" Sonic smiled even bigger.

"It was nothing really…" She blushed a little. " I mean, I couldn't let these little darlings die."

"C'mon, let's release them and head home." said a very relieved Sonic.

Back at Cream's place, Knuckles explained the entire story from what started with the man at the dock who wanted orange juice to how Wave risked her life to save the chaos.

"Wow, Miss Wave! Your amazing!" Cream cheered.

"Chao Chao!" Cheese added.

"Thanks, kiddo." Wave thanked with a big smile.

"Wow…for being a thief, you did a really good thing." Amy stated.

"Hey, I have a heart too, you know." said Wave. In fact, she seemed to feel so much better to be called a hero. It warmed her heart to know that people loved her let them chat as he looked for Sonic.

"Sonic?" he called. He found the hedgehog staring blankly at the TV. Knuckles stopped next to him. "You ok?" he asked.

"Shhh!" Sonic hissed.

He was watching the local news; a robbery to be exact. He was watching a recent robbery that took place at the museum.

"Isn't that Jet and Storm?" Knuckles pointed out.

"They said there was a hawk and albatross. I imagine so…" Sonic trailed off again. "And is it me, or does the 'muddy fox' look like Tails?"

"That is Tails…" Knuckles stated after looking closely at the security camera footage. It showed Tails and Jet loading up tons of boxes and trying to escape with them.

Sonic shook his head sadly. "Knuckles…I have a feeling Tails won't be the little bro I know when he comes back with us…"

**A/N: I'm sorry for such a long update! A million apologizes! Thank you for reading! Review please!**


	7. Food and Friendship

Tails found it hard to wake up the next morning. He struggled to open his eyes and to raise his head off of the pillow, not wanting to get up at all. He felt the airship was moving, so Jet must have started it up again. As the fox began to sit up, his head instantly began spinning. He groaned before rubbing his sleepy eyes.

He then noticed that his fur still had the stench of mud on it. He smirked from the thought of last night. Even though Jet's plan to steal the artifacts completely backfired on them, it was still worth a laugh.

'But still,' he wondered. 'Who ever comes up with mud as a disguise anymore?'

But after several minutes, he heard a few knocks on the door.

"Tails? You up?" It was Jet.

"Yeah, I'm up…" Tails replied back with tiredness coating his voice.

"Alright, well get to work on our gear. I got something for you to do here later."

Tails gave a confused facial expression before answering back. "I'm on it!"

After slipping his shoes back on, he walked out into the hallway with a few long stretches and yawns. Before he opened the door to workshop, Jet stopped him.

"Hey." He greeted. His eyes, too, looked stressed and tired. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Tails looked at the hallway clock. "I guess I slept in a little, huh?"

"I don't blame you. I slept in too. And from the looks of it, I'm guessing Storm's still asleep." said Jet.

"I haven't heard him." Tails remarked. "But don't worry. I'm getting to work on our gear. If everything goes as planned with the gear, it should be done by tomorrow."

"Excellent." Jet smiled. "You work a lot faster than Wave does. But the question is: is it a great gear?"

"I'm sure you'll love it. Storm too. I wouldn't let you guys down, especially with a big race coming up."

"Well, that's nice to hear. But like I said a few minutes ago, stop by my office here in a few hours. I've got something for you to do."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you later." the hawk said simply.

Tails rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll see you in a few then." he said. Jet nodded and walked away, leaving Tails to go inside the workshop and begin working on their extreme gear.

As the fox began constructing the gear's shape, he hummed quietly to himself. He could only have so much silence until he gets completely bored out of his mind. So he decided to turn on Wave's surround sound stereo system. Now with decent music playing, it encouraged Tails to work a lot faster with a beat to hum to. He even had a little fun by dancing around and playing air guitar for a few minutes.

During commercials, Tails would sit down and relax for a couple minutes with a cold soda to moisten his parched throat. He didn't mind listening to commercials. In fact, it helped him stay in touch with the city's happenings.

Sometimes he likes to hear if Sonic was included in anything, whether or not it was defeating Dr. Eggman again or even just saving a kitten that was stuck in a tree. Even though he didn't care to hear about Sonic at the time, it's nice to know that he is helping out the city. Surprisingly, he heard nothing about the blue blur.

Instead, they were more focused on the robbery that took place last night.

Tails turned the radio up a little to hear what they had to say. He had to chuckle when they mentioned a 'muddy fox', a hawk and an albatross. Seems like they were all over the news.

Tails still didn't approve of being part of a robbery. But it was nice to hear himself being mentioned, instead of everyone talking about Sonic and him just being a 'friend' or 'side-kick'. But that's just out of jealously.

Shaping metal, rewiring wires, spray painting…All took at least three hours to do. Tails was so busy that he was losing track of time. But he was so proud of himself for almost completing an extreme gear in two days. He sat down with a exhausted sigh and wiped away sweat that streamed down his forehead.

Suddenly, he heard the door open.

"Uh, hey Tails." Storm's voice was heard.

Tails turned around and smiled. "Hey, Storm! What's up?" he asked.

Storm walked in slowly. "The boss told me to tell you that he wants to see you. He was talking about some mission that he wanted to give you."

"Oh man!" Tails gasped. "I forgot about that. I've just been so busy! Was he mad that I forgot?"

"No, no! He wasn't mad at all. In fact, he seemed kind of happy that you've been so busy with our gear. But he does want to see you right now."

Tails nodded. "Thanks for telling me Storm."

"No prob."

As Tails quickly walked down the hall, he stopped at Jet's office doors. But before he was about to knock, he heard music. He looked down the hall, thinking that maybe he left the radio on. But he then remembered that he turned it off before leaving the workshop. He put an ear on the door to hear that the music _was _coming from the office. But it wasn't a radio.

The fox heard a guitar melody. He knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Jet called back. Quickly, Tails walked inside to see that Jet was leaning back in his chair and playing a small acoustic guitar, not noticing that Tails walked in.

"I didn't know you played guitar!" Tails smiled and folded his arms in amusement.

"Neither did Storm." Jet replied back with a chuckle. He strummed gently while playing beautiful chords. "I never really cared to show anyone that I could play."

"I think you play really good." Tails complimented. He saw Jet smile to show thanks before setting the guitar down and focusing on Tails' mission.

"Ok, anyway. What I'm about to assign you may seem really silly and stupid." he admitted.

Tails shrugged. "I don't care. What is it?"

The hawk sighed and his grin grew wider. "Look…we never really have to stock up on food much. When we go out and get stuff, we usually make it last for months at a time." he explained.

Tails just stared at him. "Your asking me to do your grocery shopping?"

"More like stealing, but yes." Jet looked up at him.

"Honestly, are you that lazy?" Tails had to ask.

"Yes. Or why would I be telling you to do it for me?"

"I'm not going out to buy your groceries!" Tails snapped. "I've got extreme gears to work on!" He began walking away.

Jet just leaned back in his chair, propped his feet up on his desk and folded his arms. "It's not an option. It's an order." he stated.

Tails just stopped in his tracks. "Then your coming with me."

"Why would I need to-"

"I don't know what you all want!" Tails cried. "With my luck, I'd probably get something and it'd be the wrong thing!"

Storm was standing by the door entrance the whole time. "Told ya to make a list, boss." he brought up quietly. Tails nodded in agreement.

Jet just growled.

Tails clapped his hands together. "Instant win! C'mon, your coming with me." he started to leave.

"Who made you leader? I'm not taking any orders from you. _I'M _the one who makes the orders around here." the hawk snapped. After a few minutes of silence, he sighed. "Okay, fine."

Tails smiled in victory.

"Take Storm with you."

Tails frowned in defeat. "Fine…"

As Tails and Storm lowered down to the ground, they hopped off their gear and walked to the city's Food Mart.

"How can you put up with Jet?" Tails randomly asked.

Storm shrugged. "I don't know. When you've known him almost your entire life, you learn to deal with him." he answered.

"But doesn't it bother you that you are constantly bossed around?"

"Not really. Trust me, you learn to get used to it." Storm assured. Suddenly, the albatross stopped. "W-Wait! What if the people recognize me from the news? They'll call the cops."

"Well, they'll recognize me because of my tails." Tails said. "Don't worry."

"I know, but they'll know me more because the Babylon Rogues are the city's top wanted criminals."

"True…" Tails stopped to think for a minute. "Well, I'm not going to make you roll around in mud." he said sarcastically, referring to Jet's 'genius' idea.

"Then what's your plan?"

Tails scratched his ear as he thought. He then snapped his fingers. "There's a dumpster in the back of the store right?"

"Yeah…why?" Storm looked at him funny.

"Really?" Storm inquired standing next to an overly large dumpster.

"Trust me Storm…it will work." Tails guaranteed from the top of the dumpster. He was searching for any old clothing.

"Ok, try this." He tossed down a large shirt that had a smiley face on it.

Storm gave a look of disapproval before slipping it on. Tails continued to search.

"A-hah! Take these!" Tails handed Storm a torn up pair of pajama pants with pink and yellow stripes on them, and a pair of triangle glasses.

As Storm put the clothing on, Tails found the finishing touch. "Oh, these are cool!" he chuckled. He dropped a pair of clown shoes.

"No! I'm not wearing those! I look ridiculous enough!" Storm snapped harshly.

"C'mon, would you rather wear these stylish shoes?" Tails presented the shoes with a grin. "…Or would you rather go to jail?"

Storm sighed and snatched the shoes. "…the shoes…" he simply uttered.

Inside the store, Storm would point out everything that would spark his interest and what ever he thought would be good enough for Jet. Tails kept close eye on his friend, as he noticed that many people began to stare at the two of them.

Some pointed and laughed and some just looked at them like they were crazy. But so far nobody suspected that they were wanted criminals.

By the time Storm and Tails were done picking up everything, they decided to head out.

"Oh wait!" Tails stopped next to the sugar isle. "Can we pick up some chocolate? I haven't had any for so long!"

Storm shook his head. "I'm sorry Tails, but if Jet sees that stuff, he'll take it in a heartbeat."

"What's bad about that?"

"He's gets a major sugar rush. We had to keep chocolate and other sugary candy away from him." Storm explained.

Tails chuckled at the thought of that. "Ok fine…I'll just wait till I get back home." he stated, even though he secretly wanted chocolate now.

But suddenly, Tails stopped when he came around the corner.

There stood Sonic, and he was looking straight at his past mechanic. "Hey Tails!" he waved.

Storm seen the young fox tense up. "Just ignore him, Tails. Let's get back home!" he pushed Tails forward to get him to walk.

But Sonic didn't let them get away. He walked up to them with a smile. The hedgehog's first concerns was what Storm was wearing.

"Uh…is that Storm under all that?" he joked. Storm just smiled in embarrassment and nodded. Chuckling back, he turned to Tails.

"Hey buddy! How's it going?" he inquired. Tails didn't answer. He just glared at the hedgehog without a word.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the blue blur asked.

"I thought you didn't think I was a good enough mechanic for you. So I think that means that I'm not a good enough friend for you." he simply stated, but he showed no emotion. Sonic got the picture that Tails hated him now. Unable to reply to his friend's statement, he stared at the amount of food in Tails' arms.

"Your paying for that right?" he pointed out.

"Yeah…" Truthfully, he was planning on paying for it all. But that was just because he didn't want to get in any more trouble. But he felt that Sonic didn't believe him, due to the strange looks he was getting.

"And…are those tattoos on your wrists?" Sonic's eyes widened as he pointed at his friend's wrists. This he couldn't believe!

"Yes…" the fox scratched at his wrist while he looked up to Storm for backup. He started to get nervous, specially when Sonic looked ready to explode.

Storm leaned down and whispered something to Tails. With a quick and shaky nod, Tails started walking away. "I'm s-sorry, Sonic. B-But I got to go…" he was then running to one of the checkout lines.

From worry to hatred, Sonic narrowed his green eyes at Storm. "Look pal. I don't know what has happened since we've switched mechanics, but Tails better be the same ol' Tails when he comes back with us." he growled.

Storm put his hands up in defense. "D-Don't look at me!" he stuttered. "This has nothing to do with me!"

"Your right…this is all Jet's fault!" Sonic added. But before Storm could say anything, Sonic continued. "If you guys are turning Tails against me, don't expect it to be ok. Because if anything happens to Tails, I'm putting the blame on Jet."

Storm then seen Tails standing next to the doorway with the paid-for groceries.

As Storm began walking away, Sonic remained still.

"You don't want to mess with my lil bro! I'll turn Jet into the police without any hesitation!" he added as Storm and Tails ran out of sight.

**A/N: Seems like Sonic doesn't like that fact that Tails is with a bunch of rogues. Again sorry for a long update. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading! Review please!**


	8. The Truth Behind the Swap

Wave sat in her spinning chair again as she starting working on the framing of the 2nd extreme gear. She had finally finished the first gear for the race that weekend. She took a second to look up at it, hanging on the wall with fresh paint still drying on it.

It was going to be Sonic's gear. It had the usual oval shape to it. The board had _every _shade and tint of blue on it, and with a sponge, she had combined it all together into a beautiful mixture of blue. Once the paint was dry enough, the swallow put a thin coat of clear paint on it to make it shine as brightly as possible. As a finishing touch, she had imprinted Sonic's name on the bottom with a electric blue flame around it.

She was proud of herself, as she always was.

A sudden _bang _made her fall out her chair with a startled yelp. As she pushed herself off of the ground, she looked towards the stairs and heard angry and frustrated yells.

"…I'm going to kill him, Knuckles! I'm tired of this!" Sonic's voiced boomed with rage.

_This isn't good_, Wave thought nervously.

Slowly, she started to walk up the stairs to find out what was making Sonic so upset.

_It must be pretty bad, _she thought warily, _I've never seen him so mad before…_

When she reached the top of the stairs, she was greeted with Sonic's frantic yelling and a very disappointed Knuckles standing in front of him.

"What's…going on?" Wave asked.

Sonic slowly shook his head as he turned her direction. "Your 'boss' is going to pay…" he hissed.

"Pay? What did he-…"

"It's about Tails." Knuckles cut her off. "Apparently, Sonic ran into him at the store earlier today."

"Really?" the swallow inquired. "Did he speak to you?"

"Yeah…barely." Sonic replied. He turned around to grab the last chilidog on the table. "…But we haven't seen each other and I think he's afraid to even talk to me!"

"It's funny, really…" Knuckles added. "Jet and Wave have a reason to hate each other right now, but what happened between you and Tails is stupid to even think about. There isn't a reason for him to be mad at you!"

"It's because it was so sudden." Sonic stated. He swallowed the last of the chilidog in one big bite and turned to Wave. "…And I only said what I said to him because I wanted to help _you _out."

Wave held her breath. "Help _me _out? Why would you-..?"

"Because I know how Jet treats you. You always work your hardest and yet, Jet shows you no appreciation."

"Oh, Sonic. I've been his little 'servant' for 6 years. I'm used to it." the rogue replied without hesitation. "And besides…I appreciate _myself _for what I do. After all, mechanism is all I'm really good at anyway."

Knuckles stood there speechless the whole time. He grabbed Sonic's shoulder and whipped him around.

"So you're saying…This is all because you wanted to help Wave out? This has nothing to do with Tails?" he asked.

"Exactly. And Tails is taking this the wrong way. I tried to explain this before we left the airship when this was all decided, but he was too angry with me. So I've just decided to explain everything the day of the race." Sonic explained.

"Sounds fair…but why help _her_?" the echidna put emphasis on 'her'. He didn't believe what his friend was doing.

"Because, even though we are rivals, we need to help out one another sometimes." Sonic smiled. Wave smiled in return to show her thanks.

"What's this going to show though? What's the point?" she suddenly asked.

"We're going to show Jet that he needs to appreciate the fact that he still has a mechanic. I mean, you could leave and have him figure out how to wire a few gears." Sonic chuckled.

"That is true." she chuckled as well. She started to remember a time where she left to visit a relative one weekend, and left Jet by himself to rewire his extreme gear. She came back seeing Jet with his feathers sticking up in all directions from electricity after being shocked numerous times.

"…And maybe when this is all over, he'll think twice about having you as a mechanic, whether or not Tails' gear is better than yours."

Wave smiled warmly. "Thank you Sonic. Speaking of which, would you like to see your new gear?"

Sonic's eyes lit up with excitement. "You're done already?"

"Yes, I am. And if you don't mind, I would like you to try it out and see how it works for you."

"Let's see it!"

Wave let the two heroes downstairs. She quickly walked up to the hanging board, wiped a gentle hand on the paint to make sure it was dry, and slowly brought it down into her arms.

"I present to you: The Blue Blur." She handed the gear over to Sonic. "I hope you like it."

"Like it?" Sonic said in a hushed tone. "I love it! Look at the different shades of blue!"

"That's the first time I ever painted an extreme gear like that. I'm impressed on how it turned out myself."

"That is an impressive board, Wave." Knuckles admitted with a smile. But then he looked away quickly. "…For a rogue…"

Wave rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Sonic. Take it outside and try it out!"

…..

It was a beautiful day out that day. The sky was cloudless and the temperature was just right. Knuckles and Wave stood next to each other as they watched Sonic fly through the air, performing new tricks and gaining unbelievable speed.

After many minutes of riding, he stopped in front of the two, taking his glasses off.

"This is by far…the best gear I have ever rode!" he stated excitedly.

"I tried rewiring it differently this time to see if it would effect the speed boosts. What do you think?"

"This thing had to of been going at least 500 mph at the least!" the blue hedgehog said. "Wave, you did an excellent job!"

She blushed slightly and lowered her head with a smile.

"I don't care who wins this race this weekend. Because, Jet's going to have an excellent mechanic coming home to him." Sonic gave thumbs up.

"What about Tails?" Wave inquired. "Jet said that if Tails' gear won, he was going to be his new mechanic!"

Tails…Would the fox even want to come back home after this was over?

"Jet isn't keeping Tails. You'll be going home, and so will he."

**A/N: Wow, it's been way too long since I've updated! Again, a million apologizes! Next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for reading! Review please!**


	9. The Phone Call

"Wow, he seemed pretty upset…" Tails muttered to himself as he and Storm walked inside the airship. The albatross helped the young boy carry in the groceries, setting them down on the table in the kitchen.

"I know, I've never seen him so angry." Storm said. After putting the last bag on the table, Tails sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Storm? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Do you think I'm overreacting to this? I mean, I still feel a little mad that Sonic came up with switching mechanics without telling me first, but now I'm starting to realize that maybe this isn't about me being a lousy mechanic." Tails asked. "After all, he seemed like he was pretty happy to see me back at the store."

Storm stayed silent as he stared at the ground. Then he shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe?"

Tails snorted. "It's funny; I was actually beginning to think that he thought Wave was a better mechanic than me!"

Storm just shrugged again, having no comment to Tails' thought. Sighing again but this time with a smile, the fox looked up.

"Ah well…I guess we will find out Saturday, huh?" he said. As he started walking down the hall towards the workshop, he suddenly stopped.

"Hey Storm!" he stated. He looked around a second before continuing, making sure Jet wasn't around to hear him. "You want to see your board? I finished it before we left this morning."

The albatross's eyes lit up. "Really? You're done with it already?"

Tails nodded. "I've had a lot more time to work on the gear than I thought. Follow me if you want to see. But don't tell Jet yet; I want to know your opinions on it first!"

Tails quickly lead the Babylon Rogue into the workshop and rushed over to the wall where two extreme gears hung on the wall racks. Only one was completed though.

Tails climbed up on his chair to reach a shiny silver board. Carefully turning back around, he hopped down and presented the gear to Storm.

"This is the 'Lightning Storm'. I hope you like!" Tails smiled. The albatross stood gaping at the gear, amazed. It was a shiny, silvery white color with streaks of gold running through it. It was so shiny that he could see his own reflection in it. The board looked like it was made of pure glass, and could break if it even tapped the ground. He flipped it over and grinned. His name was written at the bottom of it in sharp, electric-like letters outlined in gold.

"Tails! This is so cool!" Storm said. "I can't wait to try it out!"

"You really like it? I've never completed an extreme gear in just two days. I feel like I kind of rushed through it."

"No! This looks great!" Storm then started looking around. "Did you finish Jet's yet?"

"No, not yet. Almost though. I should be finished by tomorrow." Tails informed.

"Is it this one?" Storm had set down his gear, and was now pointing at the unfinished one still hanging on the wall.

"Yep! I just need to add the paint to it. That should be it."

Jet's board looked like it was going to be pretty cool too. The only work that has been done on it so far was constructing the shape of it, which was in a long, oval shape with points on the end like the Type-J. Below the gear, was three cans of paint. All three were different shades of green, and next to the paint, was the blueprints of the gear and the design layout. It was going to have a checkered design on it, like a finish line. If all comes out the way it's planned to, Storm and Tails both knew that their boss was going to like this gear.

"So, are you going to let Boss know about my gear? Show it to him?" Storm asked.

Tails shrugged his shoulders with a half grin. "I guess so. He's going to have to see it sooner or later."

"What's wrong, Tails?"

"Oh, nothing! It's just he's the one to always point out more bad things than good. I don't feel like listening to it, honestly." the fox chuckled.

"Don't worry!" Storm said. "With a gear like this, it's almost impossible for him to point out anything wrong."

"How can you be sure?"

"That's why I said 'almost'."

Tails and Storm stopped outside of Jet's office and the albatross stepped forward to gently knock on the door. They both heard Jet answer the knock, and they slowly came in.

The hawk was sitting at his desk as he usually did, looking quite bored. In his hand, he had a MP3 player that played music through the large headphones that Jet had on. He didn't look at his team, and he didn't bother turning down the music.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Um…" Tails walked up to the desk nervously. "I wanted to show you the first extreme gear I made…I, uh…thought maybe you would want to see it."

Jet opened one eye lazily, and looked at the fox. But when he seen the silver gear in the mechanic's hands, his interest grew. He took off the headphones and leaned forward on his desk to get a better look at the gear.

"Wow…" the hawk whispered, his blue eyes scanning the gear carefully. Tails started to smile, thinking that the 14 year old was actually going to like this gear. Then Jet sighed and pointed to the gear. "There's a dent in the board…you should probably fix that."

Tails' happy grin then turned into a look of annoyance. "There is _not _a dent in the board, Jet…I made sure that it was in a proper condition." he muttered.

"Well, I'm seeing one. I'm not blind." Jet replied back.

Just as Tails started to growl in irritation, Storm stepped in beside Tails and decided to change the subject before things got worse.

"But it's a good gear, right? Better than Wave's?"

Jet continued to stare at the gear, staying silent as he did so.

"I guess so." he smiled. "The design is nice and unique, so is the shape. The real question is though: does it work well?"

Tails nodded. "For each type of Extreme Gear Rider, I made the gear suitable to it's owner. Like for instance, Storm is the Power type. This gear will benefit him the most when it comes to smashing into stuff and taking significant damage to the gear itself." he explained. "And, I made the maximum speed to 500. Better than 300?"

Jet nodded as he listened to the mechanic. "I agree. The faster, the better. Where's mine?"

"I just finished constructing yours. All I have to do now is paint it and it should be done by at least late tomorrow." Tails replied.

"Good…" Jet nodded again as he stood up. "Storm, take this gear outside and try it out. Come back in later and tell us how it works out for you."

Storm smiled and saluted. "You got it, Boss! C'mon, Tails!"

Outside, sunset was almost over. Stars began to come out in the cloudless sky and the world was becoming dark, presenting a calm night.

Tails sat by a tree as he watched Storm fly around on his new gear. The albatross showed no signs of any problems with the gear, which made Tails sigh in relief. He knew Storm was very clumsy, and he was hoping that maybe this gear would help that problem. Luckily, it looks like it was doing the trick.

In fact, it looked like the 19 year old bird was getting better. He was able to make sharp turns with loosing balance, and when he performed tricks in the air, he was able to land them almost perfectly. It surprised Tails, really.

Storm came to a stop in front of Tails, hopping off his board. "Tails! The gear is great! Sonic is going to really miss out on this race!" he said happily.

"Really?" Tails asked. "I'm glad you like it, but you don't think Wave is going to win? She is a lot more skilled with gear than I am."

"You both are good. I can't tell who's better!" Storm said.

"Tell the truth, Storm. If you think Wave's gear is better than mine, I'm cool with it, just-"

"No, honestly! I think it's a dead tie!" Storm interrupted. "You mechanics are all the same to me." he started laughing.

Tails smiled and looked down at an ant crawling on the tree next to him.

"You wanna know something?" Storm suddenly asked.

The young fox just looked up at him.

"Jet agreed to this bet just because he was angry."

Tails snorted. "Tell me something I _don't _know…"

"He didn't agree to this bet because he thinks Wave is a bad mechanic." Storm continued. "Truthfully, Wave has always impressed him with her skills as a mechanic; Jet just doesn't show his appreciation."

"Well, he doesn't know how to control his anger, either." Tails added. "That's what lead to this mess."

"Yeah, well I just wanted to tell you, that no matter who wins, you'll be going back with Sonic." Storm said. "I can almost guarantee it."

"How do you know?"

"Cause Jet misses Wave." the albatross chuckled. "It's been pretty obvious."

Tails started to laugh as well. Just then, Storm's cell phone started ringing. He picked it up. "What's up, Boss?"

Tails noticed how Storm's cheerful grin turned into a look of worry.

"O-Okay, we'll be back up in a minute…" Storm then hung up his cell phone and told Tails to get his gear.

"What's going on?" Tails asked.

"Jet wants us back to the airship. He said it had something to do with you." Storm said as they flew back up to the airship.

The fox and the rogue walked through the door of the airship to be greeted by Jet standing in the hallway.

"Here…" the hawk said, tossing Tails his cell phone. Tails looked at him with confusion as he caught the phone.

"It's Sonic." the hawk replied before leaving back to his office quietly.

Storm looked at Tails before leaving to his room. The young mechanic put the phone to his ear slowly.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy!" Sonic's cheerful voice was heard on the other line.

**A/N: And again, sorry for another long update. So, Sonic decided to call Tails two days before the race starts. Wonder what he has to say? Thanks for reading, guys! Next chapter up soon! Review please!**


	10. The Phone Call part 2

Tails swallowed nervously. Why would Sonic be calling him?

"Oh, hey Sonic!" the fox tried to sound cheerful. "What's up?"

"Just thought I call and check up on you! You didn't speak very much at the store today." Sonic replied. "Just wondering if everything is going okay?"

"Everything is going great, thanks for asking." Tails said. "The rogues aren't really as bad as you think. They are actually pretty good guys."

"Even though you're stuck doing their chores and…and…did those guys give you tattoos?!" the hedgehog's voice rose with both surprise and confusion.

"Chill out, they aren't real. They are just temporary. Jet said they will come off." Tails half-chuckled.

"Are you sure? I mean, Jet can be a little air-headed. He didn't make them permanent, did he?"

"I doubt it. But if they are real, I guess he's in big trouble, huh?" Tails laughed.

Sonic laughed as well. "What do you think?"

Tails continued laughing. "But overall, things are going pretty smooth around here."

"Well, that's good, I guess…Wave is doing pretty good too."

There was a short silence on the phone, both of them lost in words. Until Sonic finally sighed.

"Look, Tails. I know you're mad at me because of this whole situation. Please don't be. It isn't your fault." he said.

"How come it was so sudden?" Tails asked. "I'll admit it, I was beginning to think that you wanted Wave on the team because she was a better mechanic. The least you could've done was tell me what you were planning."

"I'm sorry, but I did this because I thought maybe it would help things between Jet and Wave. They've been at each other's throats for awhile now." the blue blur stated.

Tail's lifted an eyebrow. "Really? But…why?" he asked.

"I just told you why."

"No, why are _we _helping _them_?"

"We may be rivals, Tails. But that's why we aren't enemies. Enemies aren't friends; Enemies don't help one another out. But rivals can." Sonic explained simply.

The two-tailed fox smiled. "You're right. I guess this is supposed to give them both a break from one another?" he asked.

"Yep! Great plan, huh?"

"A plan you should have told me about." Tails chuckled.

"Again, sorry about that." Sonic said. There was a short silence between the two. Tails didn't really have anything else to talk about. But he did feel a lot better knowing that Sonic didn't start this bet just because he thinks of Tails as a lousy mechanic. This was all done out of friendship.

"Can I ask you one thing though?" Sonic's question came out of nowhere.

"What?"

"Are you…still the same?"

Tails narrowed his eyes in confusion. What kind of question was that?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you still the same old Tails, or are you one of them?"

"Why are you asking?" Tails asked.

"I seen the news the other night. They said a local robbery was done by a hawk, an albatross, and a 'muddy' fox. That little gang there wasn't you guys, was it?"

Tails swallowed nervously. "…Maybe…" he said.

"Seriously? Tails, you were part of a robbery?!" Sonic asked in disbelief.

"No, no! Listen to me!" Tails said. "It wasn't my idea! I was trying to back out of it but Jet didn't give me a choice! I had to go with them by order!"

The young fox could hear his friend sigh. "Well…at least you tried to stay out of it…" he muttered. "He isn't making you steal anything else, is he?"

"No…I've been working on the gear since then." Tails said.

"So you're not turning into a little thief, right? You're not turning against Knuckles and I, right?"

"No."

"You better be telling the truth, little buddy." Sonic said.

Suddenly, Jet came stomping around the corner towards Tails. He didn't look happy. _Not a surprise… _Tails thought.

"Are you still talking to Sonic?" he demanded.

"Yeah, why?" Tails replied back.

"Are you talking about _our _gear?" Jet snapped. "Are you giving them info about _our _gear?"

"What?! No!" Tails shouted back.

"Tails, are you still there? What's wrong?" Sonic's voice sounded from the cell phone.

"I'm still here Sonic." Tails said.

"No you're not." Jet ripped the phone from Tails' hand. But Tails snatched it back.

"Sonic, I have to go!" Tails said while trying to block Jet from grabbing the phone again. But before he could hear the hedgehog's response, the leader managed to get his phone back and hang up.

Tails narrowed his eyes. "What was that for?!"

"How dare you give them hints on how you're making our gear! For all we know, he could be telling Wave what you're doing." the hawk yelled.

"Why would I do that? Do I look like a fool? I was just talking to him, and there was nothing said about _anything _that had to do with the race on Saturday."

"But I heard you saying that you were working on the gear and-"

"Yeah, _just working _on them! I said nothing about what they look like and/or how fast they go! No details were given, Jet!"

There was a silence as the hawk stood and glared at the young mechanic. It seemed like he was trying to look for any clues that Tails _was _giving away information to the other team. Finally, without a word, he pushed past him and started walking towards his office again.

Tails looked down to the ground, disappointed. It wasn't because Jet didn't believe him, but it was because Jet probably won't let him speak with Sonic until the race. The fox wished he could call Sonic back and assure him that he wasn't a thief like Jet and Storm. Even though the blue blur said he believed him, he didn't _sound _like he did. The last thing that the young fox wanted was for his best friend to think that he was a thief.

Because he wasn't.

And he will never be.

**A/N: Sorry for a short chapter. The next ones will be longer! So, Tails says he will never be a thief. Will Sonic really believe that? Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up soon! We're getting closer to the race! Review please!**


	11. After the Phone Call

Sonic hung up his cell phone with a blank expression. Knuckles and Wave were sitting at the table next to their friend, remaining silent as they studied his expression.

"So, uh…interesting conversation?" Knuckles asked, breaking the silence.

"I guess so." Sonic replied.

"Why did I hear yelling in the background?" Wave asked.

"I honestly don't know. I was talking to Tails, and then all of a sudden there was a lot of yelling and the phone sounded as if it was breaking up." the blue hero explained, still looking quite confused.

"Maybe a bee flew in through the window and attacked him?" Knuckles suggested. Wave threw him a weird look.

"What?" the echidna asked. "I don't know about you, but it stinks when a bee randomly just comes flying in and attacks you! Trust me, it's happened to me!" Wave just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Sonic. "Or maybe it was my 'boss' having another tantrum?"

"That's what I'm thinking." Sonic agreed. "Oh well, it was nice talking to him though. And the best part is: he doesn't hate me! Yay!" his emerald eyes shone with happiness.

The swallow smiled. "I'm happy for you Sonic! See? I told you he wasn't against you!"

"Yeah, it was silly of me to think that. Although, he was a bit nervous when he answered my question about the robbery at the museum. It was him, Jet, and Storm that pulled that off."

"Really?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "That doesn't sound like Tails to me. And who's genius idea was it to disguise themselves with mud?"

"Probably Jet." Wave answered for Sonic. "That sounds like something he would think of."

"Tails told me he didn't want to be with them when they pulled off the robbery. But Jet didn't give him a choice. Even if it meant just stand there and wait, he wanted Tails to come with him and Storm." Sonic added.

"At least he wasn't identified. Least we're the only ones who knew it was Tails." Knuckles said. Sonic slowly nodded and sighed. "I just hope he wasn't lying to me…"

Wave stood up from the table. "Well, I'm going to add a little bit more to the gears and I'm heading to bed." she stated while walking back to the basement steps.

"Wait!" Sonic stopped her. "So how are those coming along, by the way?"

"Well, you already know I'm done with yours," the swallow smiled. She turned to Knuckles. "I'm _almost _done with yours. Should be done by tomorrow afternoon."

The echidna smiled a little. "Cool. Can't wait to see it." Wave giggled a little before walking downstairs, closing the door behind her.

"As for me, I think I'm going to make some more popcorn and watch a movie." Sonic also stood back up and put some popcorn in the microwave. "I ordered that new movie channel earlier today. Maybe there's something funny on." he added while watching the small bag of corn pop quickly.

When he had his bowl of popcorn ready, Knuckles joined him as he started walking towards the living room. "But seriously though!" he said suddenly.

"What?"

"You're just minding your own business, and a bee just comes out of nowhere and attacks you! It's not right!" the echidna cried, throwing his hands up in the air. The hedgehog only laughed and rolled his eyes.

…...

**Tails **sat in his seat in the workshop, finishing up with the paint on Jet's extreme gear. But the more the young fox looked at the gear, the more angrier he got at the hawk for interrupting the phone call between him and Sonic. Honestly, did he really think Tails was going to fill Sonic in on the extreme gears so Sonic could tell Wave?

Adding the finishing touch, Tails set down the spray paint, and buried his face into the palms of hands tiredly. He rubbed at his blue eyes gently before looking out the window to the night sky outside. The moon was so bright that Tails didn't even need to keep the workshop light on to be able to see. Finally too tired to work anymore, the young mechanic stood up from his seat, picked up the gear with his fingertips so he wouldn't get any paint on him, and he hung it up on a drying rack to dry overnight.

He walked over to the somewhat large paint buckets and being careful not to spill them, he carried them over to the wooden table with the other paints. However, one can of teal paint was heavier than the others, so Tails had to use a little bit more of his strength to put it on the table.

"Hey Tails!" Storm came bursting in through the metal door. The sudden loudness scared the young fox, causing him to drop the paint he was trying to get on the table and spill all over him.

He stood there, balling his fists, ears laying flat and growling in annoyance as the paint dripped off of his fur.

"O-Oh my! I'm sorry T-Tails! I didn't m-mean to scare you." the albatross stuttered, tossing the fox a towel to wipe the paint off of his gold fur.

Even though Tails was mad before, he quickly dropped the anger and smiled. "It's okay. Thanks Storm…" he said. "By the way, did you need something?"

"Uh…" the Babylon Rogue stood there a moment, trying to think of the reason why he came running in here. "Oh yeah! Boss said that he wanted to see you in his office before you headed to bed."

Tails sighed loudly. "Ugh! Did he say why?"

"I don't think so…."

Tails rubbed at his eyes again and sighed. "Alright. Well, come with me. I'm heading that way now."

Tails knocked on the office doors quickly. Jet answered them by opening the door himself.

"About time you came!" he greeted, letting the two come inside. The hawk walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed the Type J. "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"Storm didn't tell you? We're heading back to the museum to try and get those artifacts again!" the hawk replied.

Tails' eyes widened so much it almost seemed impossible for them to get so big. "You're kidding, right?" he asked in disbelief.

"Um, no?" Jet chuckled. "Why would I kid about something like this?"

"Jet, we can't go back to the museum! Do you realize what kind of security they must have now? They probably doubled the guards since our last visit there! Those artifacts are probably impossible to get to now, anyhow!" Tails explained.

Jet just stared. "Your point?"

"You're going to get thrown in jail!" Tails snapped so quickly it was almost hard to understand what he just said.

The 14 year old leader snorted. "Yeah right, I'm going there anyhow."

"Jet, you are so clueless…" Tails muttered, crossing his arms.

"Okay, okay! We won't go to the museum!" Jet held his hands up in defense. The fox smiled.

"We'll just go to the jewelry shop right down the block! It's closed at this hour!" the hawk's enthusiasm grew. "C'mon, let's head out!"

As Storm followed behind his leader, Tails, however, stood right in his spot, not pleased one bit.

"What are you waiting for? Grab your gear and let's go!" Jet ordered.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jet." Tails' ears laid flat as he crossed his arms.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I was almost arrested last time!" Tails cried. "That was the _worst _feeling in my life! And I'm not going to feel like that tonight!"

"You're not going to get arrested!" Jet stated. "What happened back at the museum was totally unorganized! We walked inside without a plan!"

"Do you have a plan for this one?" Tails lifted an eyebrow.

Jet looked down at his feet and avoided eye contact. "Well, no…but we can still-"

"No!" Tails interrupted him. "There is no 'we'. I'm staying here, and staying out of trouble."

"_I'm the leader_!" Jet yelled at him. "And you _are _going with us!"

"No I'm _not_!" Tails yelled back. He pushed past both rogues. "I'm staying here and going to bed. If you are still going, then you give me a call in the morning about what went on while you're sitting _in jail_!"

Jet stood dumbfounded, along with Storm. As he watched the twin tailed fox walk down the hall and into his room before he slammed the door shut, the hawk growled.

"Fine! Stay here! We don't care!" he shouted. He started walking to the door. "Let's go Storm…" he added, his voice a little bit more quieter.

As Tails watched the two rogues fly down to the ground through the large window, he didn't feel guilty one bit. He was proud of what he said. And more importantly, he was proud of what he _did_.

He wasn't joining Jet and Storm for a robbery, and he wouldn't have that horrible feeling that he felt as the 'muddy fox' that almost got arrested.

As he got into bed and curled up, he smiled as he closed his eyes.

'_I bet Sonic would have been happy to see that I was telling the truth…' _he thought before he drifted to sleep_._

**A/N: So Tails actually stood up for himself? Good for him! And who else feels bad for Knuckles and the bee issue? Haha! Hmm, let's see… Maybe two chapters left until the race? Until then, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next one will be up soon! Review please!**


	12. Tails' Last Day on Team Babylon

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Tails struggled to open his eyes the next morning. He slammed his fist on the alarm clock, shutting it off instantly, and he rolled onto his other side, still curled up in blankets. He looked towards the large window; the sun was shining brightly with a few clouds flying by quickly…

Wait. The airship was moving?! Jet had landed it before he and Storm left last night! So, that means they're back and didn't get arrested?!

Tails' was very curious at this point, but not curious enough to get out of bed. The fox's ears lowered and his eyes closed as he began drifting to sleep again….

_Craaash!_

Tails snapped his eyes open again, startled by the sudden shatter of glass from the hallway. He completely forgot about his tiredness and decided to see what caused the loud sound. He slipped his shoes on and stretched a little before going out into the hall.

The moment he set foot outside his room, he was greeted by destruction. Almost everything that was fragile lay on the floor in shattered pieces. The entire hall was a mess!

"What the heck happened here?" Tails asked himself in utter shock. Another fragile item was heard falling and breaking on the floor, followed by another. Tails narrowed his eyes and held up his fists in defense as he walked towards the sound.

"I'm warning ya!" he snapped. He looked around for something to use as a weapon. His ears perked up when he found that something. "I have a broom and I'm not afraid to use it!" he twirled the black broom in his hands like a skilled martial artist before looking around carefully.

Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground with a thud. Nearly having a heart attack, the fox jumped up and faced his attacker.

It was just Storm.

"O-Oh! Sorry Tails!" the rogue apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"It's okay," Tails replied, throwing the broom on the ground. "What's going on? Why is the hall a mess?"

"Well, you remember what I said about having candy and chocolate around here?"

"Yeah, why?"

Then, out of nowhere, Jet came running past the brawn and mechanic at lightning speed, yelling to the top of his lungs. Tails watched, mouth a gap, as the 14 year old leader was literally bouncing off the walls, hyper than ever! He came running back towards Tails and Storm, and the albatross was able to grab the hawk's arm and stop him.

Even held back, Jet was still moving; jumping up and down with impatience. "Boss! Calm yourself!" Storm yelled.

"Not listening! Not listening! La la la la la!" Jet yelled back, putting his hands up to his ears.

Tails stood there amazed. "Can someone explain to me what is happening here?!" he asked.

Jet looked over and smiled, walking over to the fox and stopping in front of him, even though he couldn't keep still.

"Well, you see Tails!" he began, talking so quick that Tails could barely understand him. "When we went to the jewelry store last night, we seen that it had security traps everywhere and we were gonna go home, but then I seen the candy shop across the street and we stole candy instead of jewelry!"

"So now you have a sugar rush…" Tails guessed.

"Yep!" Jet nodded.

"I tried to keep him away from it, but I guess it didn't work out…" Storm stated. "Even after he stole all of the candy, I took it all and hid it, but this morning, he _still _managed to find it all and consume it all in just a matter of minutes!"

"Yep yep yep!" Jet was shaking now, no longer able to stand in one spot. Storm let go of his arm, and the hawk literally took off like a bullet down the hall.

Tails started to laugh. "Wow…I never knew sugar could do that much to you!"

Storm shook his head but chuckled as well. "I didn't either!"

"Is he going to be alright?"

Storm nodded and continued laughing silently. "Yeah, he'll calm down in just a matter of minutes." Tails nodded in response. "Well, I'm going back to the workshop to keep working on the gear. Today's the last day, and since I didn't have enough time to make a board for myself, I'm going to spend the day adding improvements to my current gear. I'll try to even out our gear so mine isn't as different as yours and Jet's."

"Oh, so you finished Boss's gear?" Storm wondered.

"Yeah, I finished painting it last night. That's uh…when you came in and scared me and I spilled paint all over myself." Tails reminded.

"Sorry 'bout that…" Storm apologized again.

"It's cool. In fact, let me know when Jet's calm enough to come and see his gear. I want him to test it out." Tails said.

"You got it, pal!" Storm saluted the young mechanic.

Loud music filled the workshop as Tails brought out his own gear and began making improvements on it.

"Hmm…let's see…" he muttered to himself, his pointer finger tapping his chin lightly. "I could increase the boost and the air level and add more paint to it …" As he pointed out the possibilities, he started taking off bits and pieces of his gear. He hummed to the music playing while working. There was only one thing on his mind:

_Today is the _last _day! I'm going home tomorrow!_

The fox's grin grew wider as he thought of being back with Sonic and Knuckles. Finally, he would be out of this team, and back on the one he has always been on. As usual, he still hoped that Sonic hadn't thought of his best friend as a thief…

Later that day around 2 or 3 o'clock, Tails still remained busy with his gear while making great progress! This gear was now a more golden color than the original bright yellow, and he decided to add his namesakes on the bottom of the gear with a 3-D effect to it. He boosted his boost level from 250 to 400 mph and his air level was a little higher than it was before. All he had to do now was polish it and make it look nice!

The young fox was proud of his work. Three gears in just a week? That was a new record for him! Never in his life had he been so busy with gear for a race. Now, he could relax and enjoy the rest of the day before the big race tomorrow…

"Hey, Tails!"

The 10 year old looked over his shoulder to see Jet standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey!" Tails smiled. "I'm glad you're here! I wanted to show you your extreme gear!"

Jet walked inside slowly. He was constantly rubbing at his eyes and sighing. Tails noticed and decided to ask if he was okay.

"I'm fine," the hawk replied. "That sugar rush left me drained of my energy! I'm so tired…"

All Tails could do was laugh. "Yeah, you were a bit wild earlier." Jet smiled in response, a little embarrassed.

The young mechanic stepped up on a stool and gently grabbed the rogue's extreme gear.

"Presenting 'Jet Stream'." Tails held out the masterpiece. "I hope you like it!"

Much to Tails' surprise, Jet had nothing negative to say. He actually appreciated the work done on this gear. It seemed like it had every shade of green to it from dark green to a light teal, and it had points on the end like the Type-J. His name was imprinted at the bottom with flame-like letters; the polish on the letters making them stand out from the green with a black and white checkerboard pattern behind it.

"Impressive…_Very _impressive…" Jet muttered. He looked up with a smile. "Let's test it out!"

Outside, Tails sat on the ground of the hill that he and Storm came to when Storm had to test out his extreme gear. He watched as both Babylon Rogues set up a small race track and decided to race one lap. The two skilled racers were literally flying down the track and performed professional tricks while in the air. Tails had brought along his gear as well to test it out, but he was waiting for the polish to completely dry and he wanted to see how well Jet and Storm's gear did first.

The two birds stopped in front of the mechanic, hopping off their new gear in happiness.

"Coolest. Gear. _Ever_!" Storm cheered.

"Yeah, you surprise me Tails. This is Master's Work. How old are you? Twelve, thirteen?" Jet guessed.

"I'm ten." Tails giggled.

"Even cooler!" Storm yelled. Both he and Jet set down the gear and took a seat on the ground.

"So, did you make that one too?" Jet pointed to the gold gear next to it's creator.

Tails nodded. "Yep! But I wanted to see how your gear did first before I tested mine. Secretly, this is my old gear but with improvements." he explained.

"Well, try it now!" Storm insisted.

Tails smiled and stood up. He turned on his gear and flew over to the track that Jet and Storm had made just a few ago.

As they watched the young kid test his gear, the two rogues conversed quietly.

"Hey Boss?" Storm asked.

"Hmm?"

"Were you serious when you said that if we win the race, that Tails was going to be our mechanic?"

Jet shrugged. "I don't know…maybe?"

"Boss, you know that wouldn't work out. Tails belongs with Sonic and Knuckles. And…And…" Storm got lost in words.

"And what, Storm?"

"…And Wave should come back with us." the albatross finished the sentence with hesitation. He covered his ears and closed his eyes as he was afraid that Jet was going to yell at him for bringing up the original mechanic.

However, the hawk remained quiet. He stared down at the grass with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"B-Boss?"

"I heard you, Storm." Jet said softly. He sighed and looked at the brawn. "We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow, hm?"

Storm just stared. He still wasn't serious, was he?

Both looked up with a small smile when Tails came running up them with a big grin on his face.

"I'm so proud of myself!" Tails cheered in complete happiness. "This gear is so amazing, it's incredible!"

Jet chuckled. "You should be, kid. You did a good job." he complimented. He looked up at the sky as it was starting to get a little dark, and chilly along with it.

"Let's head back to the airship."

Back on the airship, Tails took Storm and Jet's extreme gear.

"I'm going to put these back on the racks in the workshop so they don't get damaged." the two tailed fox said.

"Cool. I guess I'm heading to bed." Jet yawned. "I'm still really tired…"

"But it's only 7 o'clock, sir?" Storm pointed out. Jet was never really one to go to bed early.

"The sugar rush tired me out." Jet reminded with a laugh. "Be sure to rest up for tomorrow!" he said before leaving to his room.

Storm looked at Tails. "Well, what are you going to do?" He asked.

"I don't know." the mechanic shrugged. "This is the first time I've had a night to myself in a week!"

"Want to play videogames?"

"Sure!"

So for the next two or three hours, Storm and Tails quietly played videogames on the large wide screen TV on the wall in the living room. As he played, Tails' thoughts were still running wild.

'_What will happen tomorrow?'_

'_Will I go back home and will Wave come back here?'_

When he went to bed that night, he was able to drift to sleep with a smile.

'_At least I will be able to see Sonic and Knuckles again anyway…'_

**A/N: What **_**will **_**happen at the race? Guess we'll be finding out soon! The next chapter will have Wave's last day with Team Sonic, and the chapter after that will be…? You guessed it! The big race! Until then, thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome!**


	13. Wave's Last Day on Team Sonic

Wave woke up bright and early Friday morning. The swallow quickly got dressed into her normal everyday outfit, and got ready to finish up the extreme gear for the next day.

Walking out into the hallway, she noticed that the lights and the TV were still turned off, so she guessed that the guys were still asleep. Wave tip toed by the couch and looked to see Knuckles still in a deep sleep, snoring quite loudly. The swallow stood behind the couch, just staring. Suddenly, she had an idea. Snapping her fingers and with a grin, she ran into the kitchen and came back with a full can of whipped cream. Wave walked over to an old desk in the corner of the room and got a feather pen out of a pencil holder…

Leaning over the back of the couch, the rogue gently grabbed the echidna's wrist and poured a little whipped cream into the palm of his hand. Giggling, she set his hand down and ever so lightly, began tickling his nose with the very tip of the feather. Knuckles wrinkled his nose and turned his head away a few times, but was never anywhere close to waking up.

Finally, he lifted his hand up and _splat_!

Wave burst into laughter, falling to the floor with tears in her eyes.

"Ahh! Wave!" Knuckles growled. He went to wipe away the cream from around his eyes but forgot about the leftover cream in his hand! He ended up covering more of his face with it!

Wave seen this and was dying with laughter!

"It's not that funny!" Knuckles yelled.

That's when he heard Sonic's familiar laugh as well.

"Sonic!"

Wave wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up to see the hedgehog at the end of the stairs. Walking over, the blue blur kept shaking his head in disbelief.

"So, you're the victim of yet another whipped cream prank," Sonic said. Shaking his head, he added. "How many times does this make it? 4? 5 times?"

Knuckles narrowed his violet eyes and stood up. "6 actually…" he admitted. "Thanks for the wake up call, Wave…" he said over his shoulder in a very sarcastic tone.

"No problem, old buddy!" Wave said back, still somewhat laughing.

Once the echidna was out of the room, Sonic looked over to Wave with a grin. "So, what's the plan today? The race is tomorrow and stuff so…"

"I know." Wave stated. "I just have to finish painting Knuckles' gear and you guys should be set."

"What about you? You didn't have enough time to make a gear for yourself!" Sonic brought up.

Wave held her hand up to stop him. "Got it under control. Yes, I didn't have enough time to make myself a gear, but I brought along a gear I was working on back at home. I just added the needed powerups for it and I still need to get it painted, but after I'm done with Knuckles' gear, I'm going to finish mine." she explained.

Sonic smiled and nodded his head. "Well, we really appreciate it, Wave." With that word, the hero went into the kitchen to make breakfast and the rogue went downstairs to the workshop.

About two or three hours later, Wave was humming to her music as she gently put a clear, polished coat on the newly painted extreme gear in front of her. Taking a break, she stood up and stretched. Walking around the workshop, bouncing on her heels to the beat of the music, she happened to notice some of Tails' pictures that he had on the wall in the back near an old desk.

Wave stood and glanced at the framed pictures. Some of them were really old, and some of them were more recent. She smiled as she seen one with Tails and Sonic when they were just small children; Tails was just a little yellow fur ball with big blue eyes! Beside this picture was another of Tails and Cream at a theme park. Both of them had ice cream cones and were giving thumbs up. On the desk, the swallow noticed a black and white photo, but it was hard to tell who was in it because it looked very old. Looking hard enough, she finally figured out that it was a fox couple with a tiny baby in the woman's arms. Wave concluded that this was Tails' parents and Tails when he was a baby. Seeing this photo made her look back on her life, and how she never really got to know her parents before she was to be with the Babylon Rogues. She was 8 years old when she joined Jet and Storm.

'_Jet and Storm…' _she repeated in her mind. _'I wonder how tomorrow is going to turn out. Will they want me back on the team? Do they even miss me?'_

"Hey!" a loud voice interrupted the 18 year old's thoughts, making her jump in surprise. Wave turned around and noticed Knuckles standing beside the table where his new gear was lying.

"Oh, Knuckles. You scared me. I didn't notice you coming down here." Wave placed a hand on her heart, which was racing from being startled.

The echidna smirked, crossing his arms. "What are you doing?"

"I was just taking a break," the swallow replied, walking back to the work table, "Been working for the past two hours."

Knuckles nodded his head in response. He looked down to see his new gear. Wave stayed silent as she watched him look over it. At the moment, his expressions were emotionless. Wave couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Knuckles lifted an eyebrow, still scanning over the gear. "So, is this one mine?"

"Well, it's got your name on it. I'm guessing so." Wave rolled her eyes playfully. The echidna flipped it over to see his name imprinted on the bottom, sort of like how Sonic's gear had his name on it. His name was in bright crimson red while the rest of the board had a mix of green and another shade of red, mixed together into swirls.

"So, uh…do you like it? I call it 'Power Master'. It is probably the most powerful 'power' gear I have ever made." Wave asked suddenly. Knuckles didn't respond. "Because if you don't like it, I guess I could add more color to the name and maybe-"

"Wave!" Knuckles stopped her in mid-sentence. "Calm down! I like it. In fact, I love how you designed it." he looked up to her and smiled. "Is it ready to be tested?"

"Well, not yet. I just finished putting the polish on it. It should be dry in about a half hour or so."

"Oh okay." Knuckles said. He looked at the swallow and smiled. "I'm going back upstairs. Sonic was wondering if you wanted anything to eat…"

"No, tell him I'm good and thanks for asking." Wave stated.

Knuckles nodded and smiled as he headed for the stairs. "Okay, well let me know if you need any help."

"I will. Thanks." Wave replied back. After he left, the rogue put the gear up on the rack to finish drying. And until then, she brought out her gear and started to finish the work done on it so she could spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting rested up for the race the next day.

Finally, when all of the technical things were done with her gear, she was left on how she wanted to paint and design it.

She looked at the clock and her eyes widened. 2:45 p.m.

'_I need to get this painted and dried before tonight…' _she thought to herself hurriedly. She decided to make the design like ocean waves, except they were to be a deep purple and a light lilac color instead of a dark and light blue. Her name was going to be imprinted at the bottom, as usual, and she wanted to add a gold rim around the edges and as a outline to the letters of her name.

When she ran to the other side of the workshop to get the buckets of paint she needed, she stopped dead in her tracks when she picked up a bucket and noticed it was empty.

"Huh? How can it be empty?" she asked herself. The swallow turned back around to grab another paint bucket and it was also low, almost empty.

She growled. "Looks like I'm going to have to go into town and get more…"

Sighing, she grabbed her old extreme gear and headed back upstairs.

"Hey Wave! Where ya goin'?" Sonic asked when he seen the mechanic heading to the door.

"I need to go get more paint for my extreme gear. I shouldn't be gone long." Wave replied back. Before she set foot outside the door, she paused.

"Oh! Knuckles!" she called. "You can go ahead and test out your gear if you want. It should be done drying by now."

"Cool!" The echidna jumped up and headed downstairs. Sonic looked over to Wave suddenly.

"You want me to go with you?" he asked.

"I think I'll be fine." Wave smiled."Well, it's just…you're a rogue and a member of a wanted team. I don't know what that would be like if you went into town around the police and stuff." the hedgehog explained.

"I should be fine." Wave assured. "Besides, I think the police are little bit more interested in finding Jet and Storm than finding me, specially after the little museum incident." she giggled.

Sonic smiled and shrugged. "Okay then, I'll be here. I'll probably go with Knuckles to get used to my gear, too." he explained.

Wave nodded, turned on her gear and headed into the city.

For being a fairly large city, it was very quiet that day. Usually you would have to push past people walking down the sidewalks. However, Wave felt like she was the only one in town; the sidewalks were empty. Hopping down from her gear and turning it off, she walked slowly as she searched for the paint shop. When she did see it, she was about to walk inside when suddenly…

"Wave the Swallow!"

The 18 year old froze in her spot, holding a breath as she turned around, looking for whoever called her name.

"Down here!"

Wave looked down to see a small little girl maybe 6 or 7 years old standing in front of her, smiling shyly.

"Um, hello?" Wave tried to sound happy, even though she was utterly confused.

"Hi! I saw you, Sonic, and Knuckles on T.V. when you guys saved all of the chao!" the girl explained. "I just wanted to say thanks for saving those cuties and that you guys are so awesome!"

Wave was taken back a bit. She hadn't forgot about how she risked her life to save the chao. But she felt good inside to be reminded of her wonderful deed.

"Aw, well thanks!" she replied back. "It was the least I could do."

The girl didn't reply back. Instead, she hugged Wave tightly for a minute and waved goodbye before skipping merrily down the sidewalk with her mother.

Wave couldn't help but smile; it was so random, but she never felt better.

Walking inside the paint shop, there wasn't really anybody inside but a elderly man and woman at the checkout counter, who didn't happen to notice her walk inside and a couple other people. Quickly, she rushed through the isles looking for the one with the paint that she needed. Finally seeing it, she looked at the shelves. However, the paint she needed was at the top shelf and she could not reach it. She even tried jumping up and grabbing the handle, but in the end, she was too short to reach.

"Here, let me help you." a young man, an employee, said kindly as he climbed up a small ladder he brought along and got down the three buckets of paint that Wave wanted.

"Thanks so much." the mechanic thanked, grabbing the buckets as the man climbed back down.

"No, Wave. Thank _you _for helping those poor little chao." the man said as he walked off.

'_He knew about it too?' _she thought. _'Man, a lot of people sure like to watch the news.'_

Walking up to the checkout counter, the elderly couple scanned the buckets of paint without a word. Until the woman handed Wave the buckets back.

"Have a wonderful day, Wave the Hero." she said with a happy grin. Wave was so overjoyed to hear all of these heart warming comments. She smiled the entire way home.

Back on the dirt road in which Sonic lived on, she happened to see both Sonic and Knuckles near the hill again practicing tricks on their new extreme gear.

"Hey Wave!" Knuckles yelled. "Great job on this gear! It's perfect!"

Wave stopped and hopped off her board. "Thanks Knuckles! Guys, you won't believe what happened while I was in town!"

"A bee attacked you?" Knuckles asked instantly.

Wave looked at him with a bored expression. "No Knuckles, a bee did not attack me."

"What happened, Wave?" Sonic reminded her of her question.

"That little rescue mission with the chao was on the news sometime this week! People recognized me and thanked me and said nice things about me!" Wave said eagerly.

"That's awesome! You deserve to be recognized as a hero. You risked your life when you jumped over that cliff to catch those chao." Sonic said.

"I know! But I never knew people would say all of this stuff about me, since I'm a rogue and stuff…"

"But you did a good thing." Knuckles stated. "And that's what people look for."

All Wave could do was smile happily.

Later on that afternoon, Wave was almost done with the spray painting for her gear.

"I should have been an artist." she said proudly, hands on her hips. The wave design on it had a 3-D effect on it and her name had a silvery color to it with the gold outlining it. It looked amazing.

She finished with the paint and the polish around 5 p.m. and she was exhausted. As she placed it on the rack to dry, next to Knuckles and Sonic's gear, she turned the lights off in the workshop and headed back upstairs.

The extreme gear for the big race were finally done.

Back upstairs, Sonic walked up to her with a big piece of chocolate cake in his hands. He handed it to her.

"Did you bake a cake?" she asked.

"Nah, Cream and her mom brought it over while you were in town. I think it's pretty good, don't you?"

Wave nodded as she had a mouthful of cake.

"C'mon, we're watching another movie tonight. Want to join us?" Sonic offered.

"Sure!"

Wave and Sonic walked into the living room to find Knuckles already on the couch devouring a huge bowl of popcorn.

"Hey! Save us some!" Sonic snapped, snatching the bowl from his friend. The echidna chuckled and seen Wave.

"Wow, are you done with your gear?"

"Yep!"

"Don't you need to test it?"

"Well, I should but I'm pretty confident that it will work fine. But I'm going to test it tomorrow before we head out to the race." Wave explained. As she and Sonic sat down, they talked during the previews before the movie.

"So, any idea where we're racing?" Wave asked.

Sonic swallowed the popcorn he had in his mouth. "I talked with Jet when we were heading to the airship after the last race because he was already carrying on about having a rematch. I asked him where he wanted to race next and if I'm not mistaken, he said he just wanted to race in the same place as last time."

"Oh the forest?" Knuckles asked.

"I didn't really like the forest…" Wave muttered under her breath.

The two guys just looked at her. Wave looked back up at them."Well, it was a nice forest besides the horrible weather we were in, but it's just that we were on an island and I did my research. That island has a lot earthquakes and they are quite dangerous." the swallow explained.

Knuckles snorted. "Don't worry about it. We're going to race tomorrow and we are going to win this bet."

Wave sighed and smiled, taking another bite of her chocolate cake. "You're right."

So for the rest of the evening, the hard-working mechanic was able to relax, but the race kept her restless. How was the race going to end? And no matter who wins the bet, would she go home and would Tails come back?

'_No matter,' _she thought to herself before she went to bed later that night, _'At least I got a little taste of what it's like to be a hero and it's probably the best feeling I ever had.'_

**A/N: So, the next chapter will be the big race! Yay! We'll get to see who wins, and more importantly, see what happens to Wave and Tails! Hope you all liked this chapter and the next one will be up soon! Thanks for reading! Review please**!


	14. The Race

"Are we ready to leave?" Tails asked happily, swallowing the last bit of his toast. He and the rogues were gathering up their extreme gear and were eating a quick breakfast before they headed out to the race.

"I am." Jet said. He stood up and took another look at his gear. He sighed. "I thought I told you to fix this dent, Tails."

"There isn't a dent!" the young mechanic literally freaked out. "I made sure of it! How many times have I said I-"

"Tails!" Jet yelled to stop the fox's rambling. "I was kidding. Chill out!"

Tails paused and let out a small laugh before getting up and carrying his plate to the sink. "Right…I knew that." he muttered.

"So, boss. You never told us where we are racing!" Storm brought up. Jet looked up from his gear. "I told Sonic that I wanted to race in the forest again like last time. Except now it won't have bad weather."

"Wait…" Storm stopped. "Isn't that on an island?"

"Yeah why?"

"I was listening to the news when I got up this morning." Tails said, interrupting Storm. "I told Storm about it. They said that the island we are racing on today had a small but not effective earthquake late last night."

"Wow…" Jet actually looked interested, but only for a few seconds. "So, what's the point here?"

"I did my research on the island. I guess it usually has another earthquake after the first one. What if there's an earthquake while we race?" Tails wondered.

"It won't matter. The ground will just shake and we're hovering above ground anyhow." Jet said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But boss, that could still be dangerous!" Storm stated.

"Quit worrying!" the leader snapped. "The race is only 3 laps. Who says that there is going to be an earthquake while we're there?"

Tails and Storm fell silent. They shrugged.

"Okay then." Jet lead the way out the door. "Let's head out!"

Team Sonic were already on the island, warming up and practicing their tricks and skills. Mostly Wave because she had not tried out her newly improved gear. Sonic and Knuckles had already finished their warm up, and were sitting down on a large grey rock, watching the swallow practice.

"So, I think overall Wave is a pretty good mechanic, don't you?" Sonic asked with a grin.

Knuckles didn't look at the blue blur; he just shrugged and smirked. "Yeah, I guess so. Although, I do miss Tails as our mechanic." he replied.

"We won't have to worry," Sonic said. "He'll be coming back with us. I just hope things don't turn into big arguments when the race does end."

Suddenly, the familiar sound of more extreme gears was heard. Shadow and Silver had arrived for some reason.

"Hey, Sonic!" Silver waved his hand frantically. "Look! I brought the flag!" he brought out a black and white checkered flag and was waving it around.

"What are they doing here?" Knuckles asked in a low tone.

"Well, we need somebody to watch the finish line!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but why are both Shadow _and _Silver here?"

"I was asked to come and watch to see who comes in first." Shadow told him. Then he sighed. "But, Silver wanted to come along too."

"Why? To help determine who comes in first?" Knuckles wondered.

"No. He just wanted to wave the flag." Shadow sighed again. They all looked at Silver who was flying around on his gear with the flag held high in the air.

"So, uh…who's racing?" Shadow decided to ask. "You never told me. And…is that Wave over there?"

"Long story made short, us and the Babylon Rogues made a bet to see who had the best mechanic. So Wave is with us and Tails is with Jet and Storm." Sonic explained.

Shadow nodded, setting his black and white gear up against a thick tree. "I see…"

Finally, Jet, Storm, and Tails showed up. No one said a word to each other as the three walked up to them. Jet stopped in front of Sonic.

"So, we ready to race?" he asked.

Sonic smiled. "You bet!"

"Just to let you know, Tails' gear is absolutely incredible. So don't be sad if you lose!" Jet sneered.

"That's fine; Wave also did a great job." the hedgehog said back, holding up the _Blue Blur_. Jet didn't say anything; just glared.

"Hey guys!" Wave greeted cheerfully as she hopped off her gear. She took a look at her original team and inhaled slowly. "Hello, Jet…Storm…" she tried to smile.

"Hey…" was all Jet's reply. Storm wasn't even listening; he was talking to Tails.

"Well, let's start! I can't wait to see the look on your face when we win this bet!" Knuckles smirked.

"In your dreams!"

As the 6 of them walked up to the makeshift starting line, they stretched before preparing to make the starting run. Sonic walked over to Tails as the young fox stretched his arms.

"Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" he hedgehog said quietly. Tails looked up at him. "Hey Sonic…" he said simply.

"How've you been?"

"Good. I can't wait for this race to end." the fox chuckled.

"Me either. I'm going to tell you this now," Sonic leaned in closer so Jet wouldn't hear him. "You're coming back with Knuckles and I no matter who wins this race. And Wave will be going home too."

"So you're not mad at me?" Tails' ears perked up. "You don't think I'm a thief?"

"I _know _you're not a thief." Sonic corrected. The mechanic smiled before the race was now on countdown.

"5...4...3.." Silver began counting down, holding the flag up high. The others were now starting to run. "2...1...uh, 0?"

They stopped running.

"I said 0!" Silver yelled. "Race!"

"You're supposed to say go, Silver!" Sonic said slowly, sighing.

"Okay, then start over!" Silver announced. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Go!"

"Don't add the 0!" Jet cried.

Before Silver could protest, Shadow started to yell, "3, 2, 1, GO!"

The 6 racers started off unprepared and a little uneasy but they took off and the battle for 1st place had begun. Once they were out of sight, Shadow looked over to Silver with a not amused look on his face.

"What?"

"Seriously, Silver?" Shadow asked. "Since when has there ever been a 0 after 1? It's always been 1 then go!"

"I didn't know!" Silver cried, throwing his hands up in the air. The two hedgehogs then started to argue.

Through the woods and over the river streams, the 6 racers were racing at probably 500 plus mph, and they were wanting to go faster! Sonic was in the lead so far with Jet close behind. Tails was in front of Knuckles, and Wave and Storm were near the back.

Getting frustrated, Jet hit the boost of his gear many times to catch up to Sonic, but the hedgehog just seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead in first place. The hawk was beginning to wonder what Wave did to Sonic's gear that was making it go faster than his gear. His gear never went that fast when she was the mechanic for the Babylon Rogues. They reached a hill and flew off of it, performing professional tricks and increasing their speed when they were back on the ground.

A rumbling sound caught Tails' attention. He looked up at the sky, thinking maybe it was thunder and it was going to storm again. But the sky was cloudless. Shrugging it off, the fox hit the boost to catch up to Jet and Sonic, even though the rumbling was occurring more and more frequent. As Shadow and Silver continued to argue, the racers crossed over the line entering lap 2 of the 3 lap race.

Jet was able to catch up to Sonic, racing side by side as they flew past the trees and the curious island animals that paused what they were doing to watch the race. The Babylon Rogue leader smiled slyly, gathered a strong force, and crashed into the side of Sonic. Sonic gasped in shock and was loosing his balance quickly. Jet's wicked laughter was heard as he flew on ahead, taking first place. Sonic finally lost his balance and fell from his gear. He laid there on the ground trying to regain his blurry vision, watching the others fly past him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him up as he was still flying at full speed. He looked up to see that it was Knuckles who grabbed him. Sonic placed his gear back under his feet and was back in the race, thanks to Knuckles' help.

"You okay?" the echidna yelled over the roar of the wind.

"Yeah, thanks pal!" Sonic gave thumbs up.

"Don't let Jet win!" Knuckles ordered.

Sonic chuckled and hit the boost a couple times as he slowly started passing the others. Knuckles did the same to go faster, until he realized that the tree branch in front of him had something hanging from it. He hit it out of his path without seeing what it was first and he instantly regretted it.

_Buzz_…_Buzz_…

The echidna's violet eyes widened. _Oh no…_

"Bees! Bees!" he cried as he kicked the ground to speed up, not to pass the others, but to escape the wrath of the horrible bees!

Wave adjusted her glasses before speeding up some. However, she noticed Storm racing next to her. The albatross was giving her a friendly grin and he waved a little.

"Hey, Storm!" Wave rolled her eyes but with a smile.

"Wave, we've missed you!" Storm yelled over the loudness of the wind.

"Really?" Wave was actually shocked. "Even Jet?"

"We _both _do! You're coming back with us right?"

"Well, I hope so!" Wave laughed. Storm gave her a high five before the two of them focused back on racing. Even though talking to Storm made her happy, the constant rumbling sound she kept hearing started to make her worry. And somehow she knew it wasn't her gear that kept making that noise…

When they crossed over the line, entering lap 3, Silver jumped up and down yelling, "Go, guys, go!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "_Now _he knows when to say go…"

"I heard that!" Silver snapped. Growling, the psychic hedgehog attacked Shadow, leading to a small fight.

Tails was in second place, close to catching up with his leader. Jet happened to look behind him and somewhat smiled when he seen it was just Tails behind him.

"How's the gear working out?" Tails asked.

"Works great! Haven't lost air yet!" Jet replied back.

"Same here!"

Suddenly, he noticed that Jet started to look a little confused when he looked at his surroundings.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked.

"Was there a crack in the ground there before?" the hawk asked, pointing near a tree by the river. A long wide crack had formed near the river they crossed.

"I don't think so…" Tails said quietly to himself. _Oh no…_

That's when everything went horribly wrong. The entire island began to shake and the loud rumbling Tails heard before was growing louder and louder.

"Jet! It's an earthquake!" the fox cried out fearfully.

"We got to finish this race! We'll be fine!" Jet assured him, noticing that the young fox was beginning to panic. The two went faster than before.

Sonic, Knuckles, Wave and Storm also noticed the island's earthquake as well. They started to feel uneasy about being on the island now.

"I think we should leave!" Storm said.

"We have to try and finish the race first!" Knuckles yelled. "It looks like Jet and Tails are still going!"

"Plus we're off of the ground. It can't really hurt us!" Sonic informed. With that, the four of them focused on finishing the race. Coming around one of the last corners of the track, they were shocked to see that Tails and Jet weren't there. They guessed they must be far up ahead of them.

That's when the ground gave a strong shudder and was rapidly splitting up right in front of them! They yelled in fear as they used a rock to launch themselves in the air and try to make the jump over the still-splitting ground. Sonic and Wave made the jump, but when they turned around Knuckles and Storm were grasping onto the edge. Instantly, Sonic went over to get Knuckles while Wave tried to help Storm. The blue hedgehog grabbed Knuckles' extreme gear before using both hands to help yank his friend up onto the ground again.

"You okay?" Sonic asked.

"I'm fine." Knuckles replied. He groaned when he moved his muscles. "…I think." he added with a laugh. Both of them immediately went to Wave to help pull the large albatross onto the ground. But that's when the ground gave out from beneath their feet. Wave let out a horrified scream as she started falling down the gap in the earth. Knuckles was able to move out of the way in time before he fell also. Him and Sonic pulled Storm up and were now focused on getting Wave back up. During her fall, the swallow grabbed onto a loose root that hung from the side of the split ground and thankfully, it was strong enough to hold her weight.

"Guys! Help me!" she pleaded.

"Hang on, Wave!" Sonic called down to her. He turned to Storm and Knuckles. "I'm going to get Shadow and Silver! Help her in any way you can!" With that, the blue blur took off running to get the other two hedgehogs.

Jet and Tails started to slow down when they noticed that the ground stopped shaking and that the others weren't anywhere near them. The finish line was in sight.

They laughed and gave high five's to each other. "Great job, Tails! You are by far the best mechanic! We won!"

Tails just looked down. "I wonder where the others are though. They were behind us just before the earthquake ended."

Suddenly, a loud scream made Jet's heart stop.

"_Help!" _

The two of them stopped. Tails looked at Jet with horrified eyes. "Jet! That sounds like Wave!"

Jet stood listening to the pleading cries for help. He looked back and forth between the finish line just ahead of him and in the direction of the sound.

Nothing was said. Just before Tails could tell him anything, the hawk immediately kicked his gear back on, turned around, and zoomed off back down the track to help Wave. Tails smiled and followed close behind.

Wave was growing more scared by the second. The root was strong but it was starting to break. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Looking down, she noticed that it was pitch black at the bottom of the split earth. Who knew how far she would fall if this root breaks!

Tears welled up in her eyes as she tightened her grip. Storm and Knuckles were ripping off vines from the trees and were making a rope to throw down to her. When they were done, they tossed it down.

"Wave! Grab on and we'll pull you up!" Knuckles shouted.

"Are you sure this will hold me?" Wave asked.

"Positive!"

Wave reached out with a shaky hand and grabbed the rope-like vine. When she grabbed on with both hands, Knuckles let out a startled yelp when he realized she was heavier than he thought. He was being pulled in towards the gap in the ground.

"Storm!" he yelled. "Help me!"

"Oh! S-Sorry!" Storm apologized as he grabbed the end of the vine and helped Knuckles pull the mechanic in.

Wave held her breath as she was lifted up. She was almost up to the edge! She was saved!

Until a loud snap sounded, making everyone's heart skip a beat! The vine rope had broke.

"**Wave!"**

But then, Jet arrived. He didn't wait to slow down on his gear before getting off. He was still going at a fast pace when he jumped off, hearing his gear bounce off of the ground. He stumbled a little from the jump and ran past Knuckles and Storm and towards Wave.

"Wave!" he wailed, leaping forward down into the broken earth.

Wave had her eyes squeezed shut, awaiting the end. But she opened her eyes, blinking quickly, when she realized she had stopped falling.

"Huh?" she looked up and could barely contain her joy. Jet had grabbed her hand and was now hanging from another root that stuck out from the side of the ground.

"Jet?"

"You okay?" the hawk asked worriedly.

"I'm fine!" Wave grabbed onto his hand with her other free hand.

They stared at each other in silence as they started to hear the gentle hum of an extreme gear coming closer to them. They looked up to see Shadow and Sonic coming down to them. Relief flooded through both Babylon Rogues as they flew back up on safe ground.

When everyone was back together again, there was a short silence. No one knew what to say about the entire ordeal. They couldn't believe what had happened! However, Wave couldn't stand still. She ran over and hugged Jet tightly.

"You saved my life, Jet." she said softly. She let a couple of tears fall from her shining blue eyes. "Thank you…"

Jet couldn't reply. Instead, he just smiled and hugged her back.

Suddenly, they looked at the finish line that was just around a couple of corners. Sonic and Jet looked at each other and within a blink of an eye, Jet let go of Wave and he and Sonic were running to get their gears off of the ground and race to the finish line for the title of 1st place. The other's joined in too.

Around the bend, and then the other, the finish line was just ahead and in plain sight. Jet and Sonic were at a dead tie and were boosting up speed as fast as they could. Shadow had already got back to the finish line to catch who the winner was while Silver was still waving the flag around and cheering them on.

Both leaders narrowed their eyes and focused on the line in front of them that would crown them the winner.

Both crossed it and Shadow was left to find out who won. Unfortunately, the result happened so quick, the hedgehog couldn't see who crossed the line first. So he looked at his phone, in which he used to capture the results so he could slow down the speed and see who won.

Silver looked over. "Hey Shadow, who won?"

**A/N: Cliff hanger! I decided to add one more chapter after this one. So, the earthquake **_**did **_**happen! And Jet saved Wave! Yay! So, who won the race? You'll find out soon! Thanks for reading! Review please!**


	15. The Winner of the Race and the Bet

"Shadow, who won?"

The dark hedgehog didn't reply. He watched the replay over and over again, slowing down the time more each time. He squinted his crimson eyes, trying to see who actually won. Because to him, it was a dead tie.

"It's a tie…" Silver said quietly, looking over Shadow's shoulder.

"Wait…" Shadow held up his hand to stop the other hedgehog. He zoomed in onto the finish line and watched Sonic and Jet's gear inch toward the finish line in super slow motion. Finally, he smirked. Hopping off the rock he stood on, he rushed over to Sonic and Jet.

When he reached them, the two team leaders were already yelling at each other about who won.

"I came in first!" Jet yelled.

"It was a tie!" Sonic snapped back. "And besides, everyone knows I won again if it wasn't a tie!"

"Lies!" Jet retorted. "It can't be a tie!"

"Guys!" Shadow said to catch their attention.

They didn't hear him.

"Guys! _HEY_!"

The hedgehog and hawk fell silent as they looked at Shadow.

"If you want to know who won, look at this…" he held out his phone for the two to see. What they seen caused both of their jaws to drop.

Shadow showed them the slow motion results. Yes, in the end, both of them had reached the finish line at a tie, however, Shadow spotted something that would declare one of them the winner…

"This is a tie! Just like I said!" Sonic declared.

"Well, yes, but look closely at the very ends of the boards…" Shadow pointed out, "You and Jet _would _have reached the goal at a dead tie _if _only your gear wasn't pointed downward, Sonic."

"Huh?"

"The points on the end of Jet's gear is similar to yours, but when you hit the boost on your gear, the end was facing down unlike Jet's. Therefore, Jet's gear technically hit the finish line first."

Sonic narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "What are you saying, Shadow?"

"Sorry Sonic…" Shadow smirked at his rival. "Jet won."

As the hedgehog stood in disbelief, Jet was shaking with excitement.

"Finally!" he cheered. "I won! I beat you, Sonic the Hedgehog!" The hawk jumped onto his gear and rode around the track, yelling in happiness and glee.

Tails, Wave, and the others showed up just in time to see Sonic with a highly disapproving look on his face and a very hyper and excited Jet flying around on his gear.

"Uh, what did we miss?" Tails asked, a little freaked out from the scene.

Storm gasped. "Did Jet find more candy?!" he asked. Tails laughed silently to himself.

"What? No! He won the race!" Sonic told them. Everyone's expression suddenly went to both shock and disbelief.

"Wait, he beat _you _in the race?!" Knuckles cried. "What is this?!"

Wave and Storm also looked shocked. "He won? Really?"

Sonic then sighed and chuckled. "Oh well, it was fair race. Besides, I can't win all the time, huh?" He gave thumbs up.

Jet came to a halt in front of the group. "Looks like I won!" he gloated. "And that also means, I win the bet!"

The only person in the group who had a look of total horror was Tails.

'_Jet won…' _he thought to himself. _'What's going to happen to me and Wave? Does this mean I'm a Babylon Rogue now?'_

"You okay, buddy?" Sonic nudged his little brother a little to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah I'm fine…" the fox lied.

Seeing this, Sonic knew exactly what he was worried about. "Alright Jet. You won the bet, what's the deal?"

"You know what the deal is, Sonic!" Jet said. "The winner gets to choose their permanent mechanic."

There was a silence as Jet eyed both Wave and Tails. The swallow looked disappointed, lowering her head and Tails stood motionless.

"Tails…" Jet finally spoke. "I…-"

"Don't say anything," Tails interrupted. Sighing, he grabbed his gear sadly. "I'll go get the rest of my stuff to bring up to the airship."

"Wait!" Jet snapped. Tails froze and looked up.

The Babylon Rogue leader cleared his throat. "Get your stuff _from _the airship. You're going back with Sonic and Knuckles…"

Tails' ears perked up. "Really? But I thought you said-"

"Ah, forget what I said. I guess all that matters in this race is that everyone is okay after that earthquake." Jet explained. Smiling slightly, he added, "..And I think our old mechanic wants to come back."

Hearing this warmed Wave's heart. "You guys want me back on the team?" she asked.

"Of course, Wave!" Storm said, bringing her into a big bear hug. "We missed you!"

All Wave could do was laugh.

Sonic came up to Tails. "It's good to have you back, pal!" he stated, giving his little brother a high five.

Just as the two teams started to walk away, Sonic stopped Jet. "Hey, Jet!" he called. "Rematch?"

The hawk smirked. "Rematch!" he called back. The two leaders then hopped on their gear and raced another lap around the track.

"Go, guys, Go!" Silver cheered them on, still waving the flag. Shadow stepped up next to him and snatched the flag out of the psychic hedgehog's hands.

"Enough with the flag already!" the dark hedgehog snapped while walking away. Silver just fell silent, folding his arms across his chest. But a grin reappeared on his face. Running over to the rock where they previously stood on, he grabbed a smaller identical flag from behind it and began waving that one around.

Seeing this, Shadow sighed and closed his eyes. "Whatever…" he shrugged.

Wave walked over to Tails to congratulate him on the extreme gear he made.

"Hey, shrimp! You did a pretty good job on those gears." the swallow greeted.

"Oh, thanks Wave! I really liked yours, too!" Tails said back.

"But yours won the race. Mine didn't."

"So? That doesn't matter." Tails reminded. Wave nodded. "You're right, Tails."

The fox then began itching at his wrists irritably.

"What's wrong?"

"My wrists have been itching the past few days…" Tails replied, still scratching. "I think it might be these fake tattoos."

The Babylon Rogue's bright blue eyes widened. "Did you say fake tattoos?"

"Yeah?"

"Tails, who gave you those tattoos?"

"Jet did. Why?"

Wave didn't reply. She grabbed her gear and sped off down the track, towards the river. Tails stood there, confused, as Knuckles happened to walk up to him.

"Uh, why is Wave in a hurry?" he asked.

"She didn't say."

The swallow came rushing back with a water bottle filled with the river water. "Give me your wrist." she ordered. Tails held out one of his wrists. She poured a little river water on the tattoo and told Tails to scratch at it. It started to come off.

"Good…this one comes off. Give me the other; is this the one that itches a lot?" she asked. Tails nodded his head in response.

Wave did the same procedure for his other wrist but however, the tattoo on this one would not come off.

"Oh no…" Tails whimpered. "It's permanent!" He threw his hands up in the air and began screaming and running in circles.

"They're permanent?!" Knuckles practically exploded. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't give them to him! Jet did!" Wave yelled back at him. Then, narrowing her eyes in anger, she stomped over to the finish line, awaiting Sonic and her leader to come around the corner and cross over it.

When they did come around, Wave snatched Jet's wrist as he flew by and yanked him off his extreme gear. He fell to the ground next to her.

"Ow! Wave! What the heck?" Jet growled at her.

"Why did you give Tails a permanent tattoo?!" she yelled at him.

"What are you talking about? They were both fake!" Jet told her.

"Oh really? Is that why one comes off and the other doesn't?" Wave showed the hawk Tails' wrist. Expecting a yell from her leader, all Wave got was complete silence.

"Okay…I didn't know that was permanent…" he finally muttered.

"You didn't know what you were doing anyway!" Tails cried.

"I'm sorry!" Jet cried back.

Sonic came running up to them. "Hey what's going on?"

"Jet gave me a permanent tattoo!" Tails pointed an accusing finger at the hawk.

"You what?!" Sonic bellowed, turning his full attention to Jet.

All Wave did at this point was laugh.

"What's so funny?" they asked.

The swallow tossed a small bottle of something to the fox. "Use that. It will take the tattoo right off. Our tattoos are different than original ones; they aren't actually permanent forever like original tattoos. That there will take it right off." she explained, pointed at the bottle in Tails hands. Tails instantly poured some of the liquid on his wrist and it started to come off, just like Wave said.

Tails chuckled slightly. "Well, that's good."

Sonic sighed in relief, laughing uneasily.

Knuckles grabbed his extreme gear. "I think it's best if we head home now…" he said. Sonic and Tails agreed and grabbed their gear.

Storm caught up to Jet and Wave as the three Babylon Rogues hopped on their extreme gear.

"Until next time Sonic the hedgehog!" Jet called over his shoulder as the three birds flew to the sky, going back to the airship.

As Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles started back towards home, they started to chat.

"So Sonic, can I ask you something?" Tails asked.

"What's that?"

"Can we never, ever have another mechanic swap again?"

Sonic laughed. "Sure buddy…"

"What was it like to be a rogue?" Knuckles wondered out loud.

"Horrible." Tails' answer was simple. "I think it's best if I just stay on your team, Sonic. I'm no thief."

"I know you're not." Sonic agreed. "You wouldn't be 'Tails' if you were. It's great to have you back, little bro."

As the three of them flew to the edge of the island to head home, they never did notice Silver and Shadow following behind them, also heading home, with Silver still waving both flags and Shadow sighing and covering his ears.

**A/N: The last chapter of Mechanic Swap! I'm so glad so many of you loved this story! I enjoyed writing it and I'm sad that it is over. And thanks for the idea from Rynn Wolfe about Tails' permanent tattoo. I also want to thank my totally awesome reviewers for liking this story so much. You guys are the best! Hope you all liked the last chapter and until next time, thanks for reading! Review please!**


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